Chronicles of Klaw Island
by Arcane Yrth
Summary: The Proween Kingdom is in Mario and Luigi's hands. To save its people from an unthinkable fate, they must battle against the evil on Klaw Island, and find out what's been causing some mysterious happenings. As always, the brothers are in it together.
1. memories

Author's Notes: I believe this was my first Mario fiction, but I am currently going through it, and doing some editing. And please people review all you can, I LOVE getting reviews!!! :D

CHAPTER 1: MEMORIES

It was a bright, clear day, filling young Luigi with happiness, he was three years old on this day, and he and his older brother were playing and laughing together in the sun. Nine-year-old Mario spread out his arms like an aeroplane and made a loop around a tree, as Luigi tried to imitate his every move. Mario giggled and zoomed up the grassy hill and waited at the top for his brother. When Luigi caught up, Mario pushed him playfully onto the grass. Luigi looked up, hysterical with laughter at his comical older brother. Luigi's big blue eyes were admiring his brother, and when he could think of nothing else to do, he tugged at Mario's leg, causing him to fall down comically. Mario laughed and began rolling down the hill. Luigi again imitated him and giggled with glee, as dandelion seeds dispersed all around them. When they got back on their feet, Mario quickly armed himself with a sink plunger.

"I'm going to get you!" Mario said, mischievously.

"No you won't!" and Luigi whipped out a second plunger, almost twice the size of himself, and they play-chased their way around the hill.

"C'mon, slow-poke!" Luigi screamed with excitement.

They played for hours, never aware of the time, not a care in the world...

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Then Luigi regained consciousness.

Those echoing voices had been a dream, but they were once Luigi's reality.

But the reality now was far from that. Luigi was lying on the ground and all he knew was that his head was spinning like a tornado. He could feel a breeze from the air, letting him know he was outside. His back was resting on soft ground, but his head and back throbbed as if he had impacted the ground hard. After blinking a few times, his vision cleared, and he found out he was lying somewhere dusty and barren, but he could barely make out a few trees in the distance.

Slowly, Luigi peeled himself upright, placing his hands on his back and forehead. He sighed and looked around for anything familiar, just to make him feel more at home, and he badly needed a reminder of what had happened. Then just one thought entered his mind.

"Mario?!" It struck him with great fear that whatever had happened was likely to have involved his brother, and what struck him deeper was the thought that Mario might be hurt or dead. Besides that, it would reassure him greatly to see his brother, to maybe remind him of how he got here. Luigi called Mario a few more times, his eyes scanning the terrain for any signs of his brother. When there was no reply, Luigi shivered with fear. Never had he felt this alone in his entire life, and it suddenly seemed like he was the only person left in the whole world, with nobody there to comfort him.

Luigi whimpered, just wishing he could find his brother. So he collected what determination he had left, and began to jog in a random direction in a brave attempt to find Mario. But after just nine seconds of searching, his foot was caught on a thick root in the ground, and sent him crashing back down. Luigi helplessly hit the ground with his face before his hands could catch the fall. Luigi groaned at the pain in his forehead and ankle, and he lifted his elbows, turned his face away from the ground and slunk back down, overcome by physical and mental exhaustion.

The plumber was slowly giving up on himself. He lay where he was, stretching his left arm on the ground, wishing he had never woken up from that blissful dream, and he tried to go to sleep so he could revisit it, and be back to his unharmed self, innocent of any knowledge which could harm him or his brother. That's where he much desired to be.

A short time later, Luigi's ears were ringing from the sound of footsteps approaching. Then before he knew it, he heard his brother.

"Luigi!"

Luigi felt Mario place a hand on his shoulder, and another taking his left hand. He opened his eyes slowly and saw that his brother's face was full of concern, his clear blue eyes on the verge of tears. Mario leaned down putting his arm round Luigi, understanding that he was in need of desperate comforting. "It's ok Luigi, I'm here." He was trying to stay in control but his voice trembled at the effort.

"Mario!" Suddenly Luigi was overwhelmed with joy, and he got up, almost forgetting about his hurt ankle, and winced unintentionally from the pain. Mario helped Luigi sit up, and they finally had each other's shoulders to cry on.


	2. Blue light

A/N: Many thanks for all your supportive reviews everyone who has done so/still might. :3

…

CHAPTER 2: BLUE LIGHT

Mario helped Luigi get back onto his feet by supporting most of his weight on one side, then gradually, Luigi depended less on the support until he could walk fairly well if he took it easy. Finally, Mario exhaled a sigh of relief,

"So, how does your head feel now?" he asked concerned.

"Ah, fine, it's fine." Luigi smiled, "don't worry." He was a little confused as to how he knew his head hurt. Then Mario seated himself on the tree root, and Luigi joined him.

Mario seemed to be thinking about his words very carefully.

"Luigi, about what happened yesterday..."

Luigi fell silent. He couldn't remember anything since...

---------

Luigi was in the familiar surroundings of his home. The same home he and Mario had lived in for many memorable years. The young plumber of twenty-one was seated at the kitchen table next to his older brother. In his sub-consciousness, Luigi was aware that this was a recent event, only a few days ago at the latest. Both plumbers were dressed in their usual attire, blue overalls and bright shirts and plumbers' hats with their initial on. The brothers were colour-coordinated as usual, Mario sporting his red shirt and hat, and Luigi in green.

In front of Luigi lay a steaming, delicious plate of spaghetti, served with his favourite Italian tomato sauce. Mario was wolfing his share down like there was no tomorrow, giving Luigi little time to keep up.

"Hey Mario, don't give yourself indigestion again." Luigi sighed, as he curled a portion of spaghetti with his fork.

The older didn't listen and said suddenly "Last one done eating has to clean the dishes!" Then Mario gulped his last forkful and got out of his seat with a smirk. He then quickly left the room before Luigi had time to argue.

Luigi too left his seat, "Hey! Who said you make the rules in this house?" he yelled up the stairs at Mario.

That night, Luigi grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly washed the dishes. However, he was nearly done scrubbing the tomato sauce off the last plate and there was barely anything to wash after just two meals. Then suddenly, a bright blue object from the window caught his eye. Luigi glanced outside, where he saw something that simply took his breath away. He stared in awe at an indescribable, magnificent pure blue light, which generated itself amongst segments of the same form, into a vast circular-shaped disk. The light seemed to fixate into this form, and then stayed exactly where it was; only it wavered like liquid only slightly above ground level.

Luigi's eyes were wider than ever, and he completely forgot that he was washing the dishes. The plate that he had been holding, slipped out of his hands, and smashed instantly into tooth-like jigsaw pieces around his feet. Luigi jumped in shock, the smash had frightened him so much he could have sworn his heart had jumped into his head. Suddenly Mario rushed into the kitchen;

"What just happened?" the surprised brother blurted.

"I...um...I-I don't know." Stuttered Luigi, his eyes still transfixed outside.

"What do you mean you don't know? You just dropped a plate, didn't y-"and his sentence was cut off when he caught sight of the object outside.

"What is it, Mario?"

"...I...I don't know."

Luigi blinked and swallowed, that was the last thing he could remember before waking up here. Now as Mario started talking, Luigi listened hard; he knew his brother would have something to say which might at least trigger something in his memory.

"Luigi, I am so sorry. This is my entire fault...I should have believed you."

"_Your_ fault?"

"It _is_ my fault, the reason we ended up here. How ridiculous of me to believe that stupid lie about that Clare told us...I should have listened to you." Mario hung his head, and Luigi completely sympathised with his brother, just wishing he could understand what he was blaming himself for.

"...Clare?" Luigi looked at Mario, perplexed.

Mario raised his head, "Yeah, she lied to us, Luigi, don't you remember?"

Then as Luigi concentrated on his thoughts, he began staring into space. "...That blue light...it was _real_..."

"...Luigi?" Mario got up and stared his brother directly in the face, holding his shoulders to get his full attention. "What's wrong? How much do you remember?"

"The light...then the plate smashing on the floor...then...I don't remember." Suddenly Luigi groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his head,

"What's wrong Luigi?"

"I-Ah I don't KNO-AHH!" Luigi screamed and grabbed his head with both his hands.

"Luigi!" Mario wrapped his arms around his brother protectively, not knowing what else to do, and held onto him as well as he could, then he knelt down and caught his brother as he collapsed in his arms.

"What have I done?" Mario's eyes filled with tears, in his heart he felt truly responsible.


	3. Clare

I'M GOING TO BE EDITING THIS CHAPTER, AS IT'S A BIT CONFUSING AND I'M NOT HAPPY WITH IT. SO FOR THE MOMENT, JUST REMEMBER THEY WENT THROUGH THE PORTAL BECAUSE CLARE TRICKED THEM.

CHAPTER 3: CLARE

The two brothers rushed outside, on their way stepping over the shards of broken plate that were scattered across the kitchen floor.

They stared wide-eyed at the miraculous sight in their garden. Neither of them spoke, they were both lost for words, then Luigi, overcome by curiosity, slowly reached out an arm to feel the blue light. Mario was about to stop him but quickly pulled back, as he so badly wanted to know more. When Luigi's fingers contacted the light he at first flinched, but then placed his whole hand onto the wavy substance, and pushed it all the way through. Luigi and Mario exchanged glances, both bewildered, Luigi's hand had disappeared into the light, and then he pulled it back, causing a few ripples on the surface of the light, and then it stilled.

"Wow!" Luigi finally said, observing his hand carefully "Is this for real?"

"Oh it's real, alright!" interrupted a strange voice. The plumbers turned around and saw a familiarly tall, blonde lady wearing a large pink dress and a crown. She had a trusting smile, but Luigi noticed there was something not right with her eyes, something unsettling.

"Ah it's you, Peach!" Mario stepped in front of his brother, not seeing her in the same way Luigi did.

"I created this portal for you my friends." She added calmly, "It leads directly to an Island. I want you to go there and do something for me."

Mario was smiling, already he seemed overjoyed to take on this task. "Anything you say, Princess."

Peach suddenly giggled and skipped. Only she lost her footing on her high-heeled shoes, when her feet met the ground.

"OH!" She exclaimed, as she tried to regain her balance, "Silly me!" Mario quickly held her to keep her upright. Luigi knew for a long time that Mario had a little crush on the Princess; he would always assist her, any chance he got. Luigi was now convinced that something was wrong, for he knew the Princess very well, and he had been on many adventures with her, and she had always been very agile in her heels. A tiny jump like that would normally have been a synch for the woman.

So Luigi decided to question her, "What do you want us to do on…this Island?" he asked, in distrust for whoever it was, using his good friend as a disguise.

"Well…I'd like you to get something for me." she seemed to know what she was talking about… "but anyway, you'll find it soon enough." She looked at Mario with pleading puppy-dog eyes. "I hope it's not too much to ask, Mario?"

Luigi shook his head and watched his brother who was blushing uncontrollably. The extra request had only encouraged him to enter the portal even more. But Luigi was even more convinced that this Princess was a phoney. Then, just as Mario was about to step foot into the blue light, Luigi roughly grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait Mario, this is a trick!"

Mario stared, shocked at his brother's behaviour, "What are you doing, Luigi? Did you not hear what the Princess just said? – We'll find out soon enough!"

"Yeah well I don't think we should go in there."

"Huh?"

"I don't like this Mario; there could be _anything_ through that portal!"

Mario shook Luigi's hand off his arm, "Oh c'mon Luigi, you worry too much." And he took the dream of helping the princess all too seriously real to want to predict it could be anything other. Secondly, he always knew Luigi as somewhat of a coward, and was happy enough to go without him anyway. Thirdly, as a request from his most precious Princess, there was no way he was going to recline the offer.

"Mario!" Luigi was by now angered at his brother's stubbornness, "The Princess _can't_ make portals, and she never could. If she did, it would have saved you a lot of trouble rescuing her from Bowser!"

Then Mario fell silent. The Princess folded her arms and shifted her weight to her other leg and sighed. Mario's smile was lost, and he looked both confused and disappointed. His eyes moved over Luigi to the Princess and back to Luigi. Then his expression changed to anger,

"What's the matter with you? Are you saying Peach is lying to us?"

Luigi sighed, he didn't want to hurt his brother, but he had to tell the truth. He couldn't risk letting him enter a world, which could be filled with dangerous or deadly consequences.

"It's not Peach."

Then (Peach?) put on an act of despair, "Oh Mario, why won't Luigi believe me?"

Luigi tried to remain calm to sort out the situation, but his anger had got the better of him. "You impostor, who are you really? Tell us!" He looked her in the eyes, desperate to make Mario see, but it only enraged him more when she wouldn't step down.

And she called for Mario's attention, "Luigi stop!" She screamed, "Mario, help me!"

Mario was outraged, "This time you've gone too far, Luigi!" And he grabbed Luigi's arms, trying to remove him from his Princess.

"No!" Luigi fought his smaller brother off, "it's a trick! She's lying!"

Peach gasped, and half-covered her face with her hands, "Mario, why is he saying that?" She cried, melodramatically.

Luigi was angry, but he was feeling something unlike true anger, it was unnatural, and almost overpowering.

Unable to stop, Luigi felt his face burning up and he screamed at Mario to listen.

Mario was going through something odd himself. He had never been this angry at his own brother, and he just couldn't tell himself why he felt like hurting him. One moment he was thinking about the brother whom he loved and always protected, and the next, he felt enraged at him, and made a fist and hit him in the face. Luigi staggered and put a hand to his throbbing cheek.

Luigi stayed where he was and clenched his fists, "Mario, it's NOT HER who you think she is!" he screamed. Mario growled loudly at Luigi and hit him in the face again, this time much harder.

Luigi staggered again and held his forehead, and then Mario picked up a stone from the lawn and held it up above his own head to warn Luigi, obviously threatening to throw it. Luigi breathed angrily as Mario guarded the Princess and she put her hands on his shoulders. Luigi looked at his angry brother and then at the Princess, who gave him a foul grin behind Mario. Then Luigi glared as she moved her hands over the rock that Mario was holding, and as she concentrated her hands on the rock, Luigi noticed that she was producing a sort of magic onto it, without Mario noticing. Luigi's reaction was rage; he was worried for Mario more than anything, "Stay away from my brother!" He screamed at her. He couldn't let this impostor harm his brother, and he too picked up a nearby stone for his own defence. Mario saw this as a threat, and didn't even think once, he threw his stone straight at Luigi, and it crashed into his skull, the blow causing him to lose his footing and drop his weapon. Through the painful force that felt like it was eating him, Luigi stood shakily upright for a second, his hand on his forehead, blood running through his fingers, and then collapsed.

Mario ignored his brother and turned to the Princess. "Are you alright, Peach?" he finally asked.

"Now you can go through the portal, go!" The reply that he got was far from sentimental, considering he had just possibly knocked his little brother unconscious for her. Mario stared, and then the Princess changed her tone "Your brother will be fine, I'll take care of him. Now go!"

Then Mario looked at Luigi who he saw was lying motionless on the ground.

"Look!" Peach gasped. Then Mario saw that the blue wavy portal was moving differently. "It's diminishing slowly." Screamed Peach, "You must get through it, fast!" But Mario was looking at Luigi concernedly now.

"I don't really feel like eating pasta now, Peach" Mario sighed, "can't you just recreate it another time?" Then the lady's lips grew suddenly tight.

"No, I can't, this was the last of the magic..." Then she stared lovingly at him, "Please Mario...for me?"

On those words, Luigi began to stir.

Mario almost blushed in reply to the Princess, "Ok!" and he gave Luigi one glare of warning, should he have noticed, as he approached the portal. Luigi forced himself up on his feet; he was not in the mood for giving up;

"No Mario!" He screamed through gritted teeth and once again grabbed his brother's arm, pulling him away. Mario snapped out of his strange dream and stared and Luigi. Luigi got up quickly and pushed Mario back from the portal, which was by now already three quarters gone. Then the Princess suddenly decided she'd had enough, and to Mario's horror, created a ball-shaped force in her hands, which she hurled at Luigi. Luigi screamed as the force engulfed his body and flung him back into the portal. Mario's eyes widened and he stared at Peach, "What was that?" He yelled.

"You had to make me do it the hard way!" She replied, effortlessly creating another of such balls in her hands. Then she aimed it at Mario, who managed to dodge it when he saw it coming. Mario then managed to leap into the portal after his brother, just seconds before it vanished into thin air. The woman withdrew the magic in her hands; her face was ablaze with evil laughter and then she conjured up a spell, which surrounded her in fluorescent light, and disappeared.


	4. Sukari

A/N: Thanks for all those great reviews people; I never expected this story to be so popular! And to anyone generally, I guess the plot IS confusing; I'm sort of making it up as I go along! Also, Luigi and Mario are supposed to be the regular grown-up Luigi and Mario, I didn't mean to use the word "adolescent", thanks for pointing that out Aeolian Mode, I've changed a few things in the last chapter to make things clearer.

MISSING

CHAPTER 4: SUKARI

Time passed. Mario wasn't sure how much or how little. He sat with his arms wrapped around Luigi, rocking him back and forth, moaning.

At some point later there was a high-gain crackle of static in the air a few metres in front of him. Mario barely noticed.

"Excuse me, Mario!" Exclaimed an illicit voice. In apathetic response, Mario raised his head. All he could see through his tear-washed eyes was a four-legged creature, about the size of a large dog.

"Hey like, I was supposed to talk to you."

Mario blinked, to let the blur in front of his eyes clear enough for him to see what it was, which had addressed him. It was a lioness, with soft, golden-brown fur, which was a little ruffled, and captivating, green eyes. Indifferent to her appearance was her expression, as if her mind was elsewhere from here physical presence. But Mario couldn't care less if the animal was spaced out or down-to-earth, and he focused his attention on her as best as the circumstances would let him.

"Who are you?" He asked, not really wanting to know.

"I'm Sukari" replied the cat in a dream-like voice, "and I was sent to give you something." Then she opened out a paw, revealing the most astonishing object Mario had ever seen. It looked like a type of gemstone; only it produced a shining, beautiful white light; so bright that Mario's eyes were forced to refrain from looking directly at it.

"It's very important, man" Sukari continued, "you have to keep it with you." She motioned for Mario to take the object from her.

What bewildered Mario about the offer was how it felt so precious to him, when he didn't have any knowledge of its use. No longer willing to waste the kind creature's time, he carefully picked up the stone by the string, which he noticed it was bound with, and guided it into his other palm, uncontrollably observing its awe.

"What is it?" He now hastened to ask, not removing his eyes from his palm.

"It's The Stone." Sukari cleared her throat and sat herself down. "The Stone holds a very useful power, the power to heal. But I suggest you don't use it for unnecessary reasons, or, like, it'll run out of energy. And it takes a while for it to recharge itself."

"Well how…how does it work?" Mario felt he had to ask. But it was only one of many questions, which were begging to burst.

Sukari sighed, "Well…" She rolled her eyes; just reading the other questions out of Mario, "place it on your brother, like, near his heart. That's all you do."

Mario nodded, even though he almost doubted Sukari for making it sound so simple.

With Luigi's head still resting on his lap, Mario gently placed The Stone above where he estimated to be his heart. Then he took his weak little brother's hand and placed it ontop, and used his own hand to cover that one. He didn't know why he was making some kind of sandwich, but it felt reassuring to be bound in with the healing.

Then a magical thing happened, and Mario lifted his own hand to see the luminous white light shining through Luigi's fingers. Mario gawped in disbelief, as the light continued to shine brightly for what seemed like almost a minute. Then it slowly began to fade, and eventually returned to its original state, only shining vaguely from beneath Luigi's palm. Nervously, Mario again took his brother's hand, and held it in both his, as if in prayer. At some point later, which seemed like another minute to Mario, Luigi groaned softly and stirred.

Mario breathed in, and impatiently but excitedly, he waited. Then eventually, Luigi opened his eyes a little, blinking at the trembling look in his brother's eyes. Then mumbling something, Luigi tried to sit up, so Mario helped him, afterwards not resisting holding him in his arms.

"Alright, alright bro!" Luigi coughed, weakly nudging away from Mario "What just happened?" Then he turned around, saw Sukari and screamed.

At the same time, Sukari jumped, and her fur stood up as if someone had blow-dried her.

"Hey…hey." Mario said softly, trying to calm his brother down, "This is Sukari, she is a friend, and she just healed you!"

"What? Healed me? How? I- I'm confused Mario. Tell me what just happened."

"I didn't heal you man," Said Sukari, between licking her fur back down. "The Stone did!"

Luigi, hungry for answers, caught sight of The Stone, which Mario was now holding, and glanced back at his eyes, with his own impatient, confused ones.

"I'll tell you everything my brother," Said Mario, smiling back at him, "Just...how do you fell?"

"Well, ok I guess...but my head _really_ hurts." he moaned, "I don't know why."

Then Mario sighed, "Just get some rest Luigi." And he gently lay his brother down, "I'm glad you're awake." He added, using the only positive thought that he had.

Luigi felt isolated, he was desperate to know so much, and his head was spinning with thoughts. But instead of arguing, he took his brother's advice, and tried to go back to sleep.


	5. Klaw Island

A/N: This is going to be the bigest chapter so far. Most it chapter is a story idea I had in my mind for a while, when I was coming up with it I had the scenes pictured exactly in my head. And I suddenly thought, this could go into this story nicely!

A/N: Also, coming up, major Luigi pain! (Mario too but not as much)

CHAPTER 5: KLAW ISLAND

Somewhere in a world unknown to himself, Luigi lay restlessly against the trunk of a gigantic tree. Unable to sleep, he was turning The Stone in his fingers, silently beholding it. Luigi continued to stare straight ahead, as he moved his fingers over his forehead. Where there was once a deep, prominently painful gash, his skin had healed over completely, leaving only a mask of dried blood. He then reached up to adjust his cap, only to notice that it was missing, and instead combed his fingers through his hair. Mario and Sukari were sitting nearby, opposite a small open fire. They were talking and roasting mushrooms on sticks.

"What else do you know about 'The Stone'?" Mario asked as he handed Luigi a mushroom-stick before biting into his own. Luigi licked his lips, the smell of roast mushroom reminded him that he hadn't eaten in quite a while, and he chewed greedily at the food whilst listening.

"Well, awesomely my friend, The Stone has been around for generations and generations. No one's even sure how long. But somewhere along the lines, The Stone had gotten into bad hands; it's a good thing our pride managed to retrieve it." The cat smiled and twitched her whiskers. "And I was sent personally by the royal family to use it for the good of our people." She added proudly.

"Are we 'your people'?" Luigi asked, and he shuffled his back up higher against the tree to catch their attention.

"Umm" Then Sukari dropped her head, "Well…to quote the king _exactly_, what he said was: '_Why don't you make yourself useful for once and bring The Stone to someone who needs healing_!' "

"Well…" Mario blinked, "Your king must have trusted you a lot to let you travel alone with such a precious possession."

Sukari smiled, "True, it's the most precious possession our Kingdom owns. And I guess the king _does_ trust me, after all, I may not like to do much most of the time, but I am one reliable cat!" And she went back to her proud self again, wondering about the significance of her own pun on the word cat.

Luigi swallowed a lump of his food, eager to ask Sukari a question, which had been bothering him the most, "Where are we?" he blurted.

Both plumbers now focused on Sukari, who in turn lay down on her belly with her paws outstretched, much resembling the position of a sphinx statue.

"Wait. You mean you don't know where you are?" She glanced at them, receiving a pair of shaking heads. "…This is Klaw Island. And let me tell you, you were lucky I was nearby when I heard your brother scream."

"Never heard of it." Said Mario, as he and Luigi shrugged their shoulders. "How close is it to Mushroom Kingdom?"

"Mushroom Kingdom! You gotta be kidding me!"

"No,_that's_ where we came from," Said Mario, "we travelled through a portal. A blue one."

The feline laughed, but then saw that the plumber was being serious. "Oh…well in that case this is totally un-groovy dude. Because if you came here through a portal, then the only way _back_ is through the same kind of portal."

"Why?"

Sukari swallowed and then sighed. "Because like, portals are like that. And Mushroom Kingdom is in a different galaxy to this."

Luigi sighed and looked at the ground, he suddenly felt queasy with homesickness. Mario bit his lip and thought hard, then he released it to speak, "And you don't know where we can find a portal?"

"Well…there is this _one_ place I know." the lioness began, "But it's a loooong way from here, man!" The brothers listened intently. "It's been nick-named the cavern of hope, because everyone enters it believing they're going to return with powers and riches! Everyone who's ever left the cavern returned empty-handed, but most of them never returned at all." And she giggled, "It's only a crazy rumour though. But there _is_ a portal, like the one you described, man! It's inside the cavern, or so they say. Many travellers and explorers have disappeared there."

Luigi placed his forefinger and thumb on his chin, "So it's like the Bermuda Triangle!" He added, receiving an amused grin from Mario.

"The Bermuda wha-?"

"Never mind Sukari," Said a determined Mario, "Can you _take_ us to this cavern of hope?" He asked, clenching his fists.

"Far out!" The feline yelled. "Finally someone needs me for something!" And she improvised a little dance, without even being aware of it.

"How long will the journey take?" Mario asked, interrupting the dance.

"Well, hard to say. But judging by how slowly humans can travel…I'd say…a couple of weeks maybe." And she watched their expressions, in the hope that she hadn't changed their minds. "But you need me with you because, like, it's really dangerous here!"

"What's the danger?" Asked Luigi, suddenly feeling a slight chill.

"Lots of things, very big things mostly." Sukari warned.

"We can deal with big things." Mario boasted. "We've fought monsters three times the size of us in the past."

"Well I don't think this is the same thing-" Sukari cut off her sentence and perked her right ear.

"W-what is it?" Luigi asked, feeling a sudden chill run down his spine.

The lioness turned her head and fell stock-still, her eyes wide and focused in the direction of some obscuring trees and bushes. She was rotating her rounded ears slowly back and forth, in an adjusting motion, until she faced both of them forward, and then kept them still. Mario and Luigi just gaped, waiting to see what was happening, and then they heard a loud rustling sound.

"RUN!" Sukari screamed. The next thing Luigi knew was that something had grabbed him by the arm and was seizing him away.

"C'mon!" It was Mario, dragging him to his feet. Luigi stumbled a few times, but quickly caught up, always the faster of the two brothers; Luigi's pace soon fell into a sprint. The moment left no time for Luigi to have seen what had sprung at them, but it was chasing them, and fast, for he could feel huge wafts of air from close behind him pushing down like a giant paw just inches away. Mario had placed his hand on his cap, to stop it from disappearing in the other direction. He looked ahead of him, trying not to lose sight of Sukari, but she was running at a progressive speed, and was almost completely out of sight. Mario heard a gigantic jaw snap in the air just inches above his head, and he could smell the stench of foul animal breath on his nose.

Mario wanted to stick by Sukari, not wanting to lose their guide. But in the next moment, the lioness had taken a huge lea forward, and he could no longer see her. And slightly ahead of him still was Luigi, who out of fear and loss of orientation, had begun to panic. Mario kept a close eye on his brother, but he was having increasing difficulty with this, as the ground that they were now covering was plagued with thick roots, which threatened to grab his ankles and knock him down. The leaves continued to become thicker and larger, and more laborious to whip away, Mario had to look away for that one second when a branch slapped him in the face, then the second that he looked back, Luigi was gone. Mario tried to sprint and search for Luigi at the same time, constantly moving, constantly leaping over roots and rocks, and beating away branches and leaves, which obscured his path.

Then he heard Luigi call his name, causing him to divert his attention away from his path, and the next instant, something large slammed him into the ground from behind. Mario breathed quickly, squirming desperately. His belly was being crushed against the ground, but his arms and legs were sprawling at his sides. Then somehow, he managed to turn his head, to see talons, rooting around him, and above, a fur-covered leg the size of a tree. But then he held his breath, as a colossal green eye stared him right in the face. There was no mistaking; this eye belonged to a feline.

Then the creature released the pressure off Mario's back, allowing him to refill his lungs. Lifting himself on his arms, Mario staggered on the ground and then the monstrous cat pawed him roughly around, so that he was on his back again. Then Mario froze, he decided if he were to run, and the cat landed its paw back on him, he wouldn't stand a chance of survival. Mario breathed, terrified, and the cat again stared at him with giant saucer eyes, then it seated itself, not removing its eyes from its victim.

_What's it waiting for?_Mario thought. Then the cat batted Mario in the side, again rolling him over. Mario coughed. _It's playing..._he thought…_it's playing with its prey. _Mario turned his head and suddenly the cat seemed distracted.

"Hey you!" Screamed a voice. Mario turned on his back in advantage of the cat's distraction. The voice belonged to no other than Luigi. "Leave my brother alone!" And Luigi leaped into view, armed with nothing but a stick. The cat's tail twitched furiously, and it was now turning to Luigi.

"No Luigi!" Mario got up and regained the cat's attention. Then the animal switched its head repeatedly between targets, somewhat confused. Then Luigi hurled his weapon at the cat, it simply bounced off its fur, but immediately attracted its interest, and the cat turned and clawed Luigi instantly to the ground, his front side upright, Luigi's terrified eyes met with the cat's, and he felt its knife-like claws digging into his chest. Luigi screamed, and the more he did so, the harder the cat pressed him down, until he wheezed and gasped for air.

Mario screamed to divert the cat's attention again, but it simply turned its head, and filled with rage Mario kicked and tugged at the cat's other front paw. The cat threw Mario to the ground, still choking Luigi in its other paw. Mario landed too far out of reach of being clamped down again, and quickly slid behind a tree. Now the feline was only watching its victim suffocate, and playfully lifted its paw an inch, enough for Luigi to take a breath, but then inserted one of its razor-sharp claws partially into him. Luigi moaned with all the breath he had, his mouth agape and gasping, and eyes screwed shut with pain.

Mario leaped out from behind the tree, and not thinking what he was doing, had got his foot caught in one of the roots, causing his whole body to impact hard on the ground. Despite the pain in his nose and lip, Mario got on one foot, before realising that his other foot had become entangled in the root, and fell again. He heard another scream from Luigi, and he tugged his foot repeatedly to try to wrench it free. Mario strained and tugged one last time, when his eye caught a familiar sight.

Leaping into view, it was Sukari; she had come to the rescue. Mario stared as he watched the last hope of saving his brother spring five feet in the air and claw herself onto the monster's back, which was clearly more than many times her own size. There was an ear-piercing howl as the two cats contacted. Then Sukari bounced off the cat and produced a sound, which the other cat could not, she roared at the top of her voice. And the cat's fur stood on end for a two whole heart-stopping seconds, before it hissed and vanished into the undergrowth.

………

(Quick character overview)

A/N: Now that you've hopefully read this chapter, I can tell you more about the cat. This cat was actually based on _my_ cat at home, I used what I knew about his behaviour when he was stalking or playing with something, and had since then thought of this idea.

A/N: As for Sukari, well she is not a new character either, she is what I would imagine myself as, if I were an animal! I wanted her to be dreamy most of the time, not to lie about myself, but what I exaggerated about my character through her, was the hippie-ish words she uses when she talks, i.e. "Far out!" The difference is, even though I would want to, I probably wouldn't say that out loud to a complete stranger. So Sukari is less conforming in that sense.


	6. Luigi remembers

A/N: Sorry if I've kept you waiting, I have been _extremely_ busy moving into my new room, only to be left with no wireless internet connection. So, now it has taken me a lot longer than intended to post this. Sorry, I myself hate it when other stories take forever to update, I know how frustrating it is. But hopefully this chapter will make your wait worthwhile!

CHAPTER 6: LUIGI REMEMBERS

Leaves scattered to the ground through a furious wind, which had started itself up. Somewhere nearby, a lazy bee landed itself on a dandelion; just below it were the tiniest pair of humans it had ever been in close contact with, however it was too busy to observe any of the action. And Mario had little time to observe the bee, but did think for a second that that was the largest insect he had ever set eyes upon.

Sukari stood paralysed, apparently shocked, until Mario shouted at her, and she shook herself, and obediently clawed away at the vicious root grabbing onto his ankle. The second he was free; Mario dived for his brother, a few feet away.

Luigi lay oozing with blood; eyes screwed shut, digging his fingernails into the ground and taking gasping breaths. Mario frantically groped at the clothing around Luigi's shoulders and cried. Sukari was gazing at them from a safe distance; she felt a wave of sorrow hit her, which blended into her other, more personal thoughts. Then she jumped.

"NO!" Screamed Mario. "Where's The Stone?" And he turned to face her, revealing his tearstained face, which under the moisture was tinted with red, as his rage, which he directed at Sukari. The startled lioness stuttered at first,

"Umm, Luigi had it last." And she took a couple of paces, not daring herself to get too near to the angry plumber. Mario fished into all of Luigi's pockets, getting his gloves sticky with fresh blood.

"He hasn't got it!" He snapped.

"M-maybe he dropped it somewhere." Sukari stuttered.

"Well go find it!" bellowed Mario. And very frightened, the feline darted off back along the way she had come. She would use her nose and head to locate The Stone, and decided very fast to search the place where she first caught scent of the cat.

In the meantime, Mario was trying to calm himself through his inner turmoil,

"Don't give up Luigi, everything's going to be ok."

"Um-um Mar-io." Luigi said between fast painful breaths, as more blood poured from his mouth. "I-I…I can't breathe."

"Try and keep breathing." Mario's breaths were also hindered by his anguish, "We'll use The Stone and get you healed. And then you'll be ok, Luigi." Then he glanced around, holding on to the last bit of hope that he had left. And he used his hand to apply pressure to Luigi's chest, receiving a groan, and Mario _shush_ed at him affectionately.

"I'll soon get you healed."

Then, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Sukari leaped into sight, The Stone amulet held tightly in her jaws. And as soon as she got near enough, Mario snatched it from her and placed it on Luigi. Sukari joined Mario in the hope. Luigi's breathing had decreased dramatically already during the wait, and to their horror, Luigi gasped a couple of times and then stopped. Mario advanced into a panic,

"Luigi!" and he groped the straps on Luigi's overalls and shook him, but still no response. Mario felt his own heart going into hyper-drive, and he took Luigi's shoulders in one arm, thrusting The Stone with his other hand into Luigi's chest, screaming. "NO! Heal him!" And standing in hopelessness, Sukari's eyes welled up with tears. Then Mario cried and squeezed his little brother close, rocking him back and forth. "You can't leave me, not like _this_ little bro." Suddenly, Mario was taken aback, as Luigi suddenly inhaled deeply. And Mario almost dropped him, but caught him to see his face shining with recovery. Mario was both in surprise and in disbelief,

"You're healed." His voice came out in such a quiet whisper that Luigi could barely hear him. "Oh, I don't believe my luck!" And he once again squeezed the now coughing Luigi. Sukari approached and shook her head,

"Wow." She said. She he was still in tears, but her voice was with a hint of dryness. "This is awesome." And she shook her head.

"You're safe now." reassured Mario, "The big cat's gone."

Luigi smiled, still resting close up against his brother, "How did we get here, Mario?" Taken slightly aback, Mario swallowed, "There's something I have been meaning to tell you." And he avoided eye contact, after a few seconds he brought himself to speak "Um, Luigi…its all my fault you can't remember." He spoke very softly and his voice was monotonous.

"What do you mean, Mario?" Luigi said naively.

The older brother looked him briefly in the eye, "Well, I…" Luigi stared blankly, worried for his brother. "It was me who gave you that cut on your head. I threw a stone at you…I just wanted to protect the princess…you knew it wasn't her but I was blinded to see that you were right…I'm so sorry, I should have listened to you." And he tried to hold back another tear, and failed. Luigi sat quietly processing his new thoughts, he was struggling to understand what was leading brother to so much guilt.

"You threw a stone at me?"

"Yes, it knocked you out cold…it must be what caused you to forget." Mario replied, as he covered his face, unwilling to let his brother find pity in him. But Luigi did pity him deeply.

"But Mario, all of this sounds like an accident. I don't blame you at all." Luigi tried to catch Mario's reluctant eyes, "Sounds like you just wanted to protect the princess, of course you would, you love her."

"Luigi, you don't understand. During that time, in which I felt I could kill you, I swear I was caring more about Peach than about you. And I can never forgive myself for that, Luigi. Never."

With not another word to say, the two brothers sat silently in sadness. Sukari, who felt she was no longer needed, sighed for the brothers' sadness as well as her own. Then Luigi looked up, his face showing the tiniest hint of determination, and he leant forward and put his arms around Mario's back,

"If you wont forgive yourself Mario, then I wont forgive myself for not making you feel better." And Mario put his hands on Luigi's arms, which were wrapped around his neck. "…Forgive yourself." And Mario stared into space, and then forced a smile.

"Ok" he whispered, "but that's going to be hard."

"Great." Comforted Luigi, "Now you can tell me the rest of what happ-" his words were cut off, he was experiencing another head-slicing flashback…

Mario turned as soon as he heard Luigi's scream, and helped him to the ground, grabbing his thrashing arms to calm him. After two minutes of terrifying lashing and screaming, a lot of the words had been recollected to Mario, and he realized there was no longer the need to explain. After the flashback, Luigi lay gasping for breath and filled with the shock of realisation. As soon as he regained his breath he looked at Mario,

"I remember!"

Mario smiled, "How do you feel?"

"I feel ok. Now you have less reason to feel guilty Mario, I remembered eventually, and there's another thing you didn't know about." Mario looked blankly at him. "Before you threw that stone at me, that woman who you thought was the princess, charged it with something which made it more lethal." At hearing this information, Mario gasped, and threw a hand on his mouth, eyes wide.

"What, she charged it? I never knew about that!"

"I actually thought she was going to do something to _you_." Luigi admitted.

"And you were just trying to protect me from her." Said Mario, quietening his voice.

"But you see? It wasn't _your_ fault!" Luigi urged, trying to turn his brother's blame off himself once again. Mario shook himself.

"She hit you with it again, she threw you into the portal, that's when I realised it wasn't her. That must have done most of the damage." He calculated.

Luigi simply nodded, and then Sukari showed herself.

"Hey umm do you want to get something to eat?" She asked. The brothers looked at each other and then nodded. "Good, do you want me to whip up some more mushrooms?"

"Wait, Sukari." Mario said. "I want to apologise, I've been really rude to you earlier."

Sukari's reaction was a little surprised. "Oh no, that's ok, you were obviously just really worried about your brother." And she was about to leave when Mario stopped her again.

"Sukari. Thank you for helping us." He and Luigi smiled, receiving in return the smile they had been hoping for.

Half an hour later, the three travellers sat chewing mushrooms, the more obvious choice for food, whilst discussing the next part of their journey.

"We have to travel at the break of dawn tomorrow if we are to avoid being eaten." Explained an informative Sukari, "The early bird likes to catch the worm!"

Though she meant it jokingly, Sukari also meant it seriously. Luigi crossed his eyebrows, "Birds?"

"Yes birds." Said Sukari, "They are most active and hunt out in flocks at sunrise."

"Wait." Began Mario, "How big are these birds?"

"Well the smaller ones are big enough to peck your heads off." She replied. Her terrified audience of two had very wide eyes. They were at the realisation of their true surroundings, which they had been ignoring all this time. Mario and Luigi looked up properly at their surroundings for the first time since they had set foot on Klaw Island, nothing looked the way they were telling themselves it was. They panned what they first perceived as a tree, and then realised these weren't trees, they were very big stems. The three of them were secluded in a clearing inside some shrubs, and when Luigi finally brought himself to accept this, he suddenly felt very small.

All through the night, Luigi stirred restlessly awake; he could hear all sorts of noises in the dark, most of which he couldn't even identify from the sound. Although he couldn't see in the pitch dark, as they had let the fire die down, he felt for Mario who was beside him, and slid his shivering body up close to his.

Mario exhaled deeply, he was used to Luigi waking him when he couldn't sleep, as his teeth always chattered so loud that they woke him, but this moment reminded him of when they were very young, and he would let his little brother crawl in bed with him on stormy nights. Mario reached back and put Luigi's arm around himself, in turn passing the memory on to him.

Sukari, who could see very well in dark conditions, was less afraid. Darkness was the natural way of telling her it was time to sleep, and this comforted her rather than scare her. And she stretched from her lying position and curled herself up into a ball, in which she slept all through the night.


	7. The way alone

A/N: To Aeolian, keep drawing will you, I love your art. Thanks; I'll be trying to make time to draw something of yours. ;)

A few references in this chapter, I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll quickly go over them at the end in case anyone missed anything.

In the upcoming chapters I will be trying to explain more to uncover some hidden truths about Klaw Island, Sukari and The Stone.

I've now also added a different and most shocking aspect of the story; but something told me I really needed to add this.

CHAPTER 7: The way alone

The two sleeping plumbers were soundly asleep, when a cat-like shadow meandered over each of them. Sukari was looming over their bodies watchfully, waiting for any signs of stirring. When she had made absolutely sure that they were asleep, the lioness slipped behind a tree and uncurled her paw to reveal The Stone. She had taken it from Luigi's pocket earlier, as she had some important business to do. Then, she jumped at an unexpectedly loud voice, projecting itself from the blindingly bright object.

"_Sukari, do you have the Mario Brothers?"_ Exclaimed the course voice.

And Sukari calmed herself, peering around the tree to check the brothers as she put The Stone up to her muzzle. "Yes." She whispered. "I've got them."

"Good. Don't be any longer than two days, I think you'll find that my patience is slowly running out on you."

"Two weeks?" again, the lioness tried to keep her voice to a minimum. "I can't make it in such short amount of time, man, these guys are_really_ slow. I need a week at least."

"_Hmmm"_the rough-voiced villain grumbled, "_I'll think of something. In the meantime, you keep a watchful eye on those faucet faces."_

"Yes, Bowser." Then, there was a distinct shuffle, as one of the Marios turned, mumbling in their sleep, so Sukari quickly hushed something into The Stone, somehow hanging up the connection, and carefully placed it back in the same pocket of Luigi's overalls.

In the early hours of the morning, in the lowermost nether portion of Klaw Island, two footsore plumbers wandered behind an easy-moving lioness. It had been a blisteringly cold night, and it was none the more warmer that day.

The Mario brothers didn't usually get worn out after a few hours of walking, in fact, they were pretty much used to it, but trying to keep up with Sukari was like trying to win a race with a hypersonic Cosmic Mario.

They were whipping through grass which was taller than themselves which reached to at least a head above Luigi's, and they dodged obscuring rocks, plants and logs, relying fully on Sukari to escort them in the right direction.

Then Mario decided he'd had enough.

"Sukari!" He moaned, resting his hands on his thighs, "could you slow down?" And in front of him, Luigi skidded to a halt and turned on his heels. Then Sukari emerged with the same swiftness that she had been running with.

"C'mon guys, we have to hurry, the sun's already beginning to rise."

"Well could you at least slow down?" Complained Mario, "We're not as fast as you lions, and if you get out of our sight, we might lose our orientation."

"You have to keep up a bit longer I'm afraid, it's too dangerous out here in the open." And then Sukari, not wanting to listen to the predictable argument, leapt back on track.

"You must have me confused with Mario Andretti." He added, not being serious, but also not trying to be funny, however, it seemed Sukari was ignoring him.

Luigi shrugged at his brother and decided to once again pick up his pace, and Mario gave him a more determined look, seeing that he had no safer option than too continue following Sukari, until the next, hopefully soon rest stop.

After what seemed like another ten minutes of running blindly after the speedy Sukari, Luigi realised they had reached a clearing. Sukari was waiting ahead of him, sitting almost impatiently and thrashing her tail.

Now all that Luigi could see looking up, was the moon, still waiting to switch places with the sun. Though the sun was only stretching its light-fingertips near the horizon. All around the circular clearing was the tall grass they had come through, and the occasional tree stalk barring the way. In the centre of the clearing, was a twisted, old-looking tree, which was bent at several angles as if it had been shaped out of a pipe cleaner.

Then from behind him, Mario burst into the clearing, gasping and quickly leaning on the bent tree to get his breath back. Luigi folded his arms, unimpressed by Mario's lack of dignity. He wasn't going to say anything though, lest he starts an argument, but Mario had to complain.

"The_least_ you could have done was wait for me!" He moaned, his right hand still propping himself against the tree. Though the remark was directed at Sukari, she only responded by rolling her eyes.

"Mario, you're being melodramatic again," Luigi added carefully. And Mario stepped away from the tree, about to argue back, when Sukari very loudly cleared her throat. The lioness had caught both the men's attention, just in time, she thought, before an argument could erupt. And Luigi, glad to be one again safe from verbal abuse, walked over to the tree and slumped himself down in relief. Mario however, stood with his arms folded, watching Sukari.

"This is_not_ the time for arguments, guys." Sukari began, still sitting as before, "But now that we _are_ in a safer place, we can rest and talk peacefully for a while."

"Oh, you sound just like mom." Mario grumbled. He was obviously still calming down from his anger tantrum, and only Luigi knew, that the best thing to do in this situation was not to talk to him, and Sukari either sensed that, or just didn't see the point in arguing; either way, she didn't reply.

After a couple of seconds, Mario went over to the shaded area under the same tree Luigi was resting, and sat himself down beside him. Mario sat in silence for a whole minute; and Luigi noticed that he had been eyeing Sukari precariously the whole time. The lioness didn't make eye contact with Mario a single time, but could feel his eyes burning into her, but she had the same drawn-out, joyless expression on her face.

"You didn't even ask us who we were." Said Mario finally. Sukari lifted her head, and suddenly her eyes suggested she was in trouble.

"E-e-excuse me?" She stammered. And Luigi focused his attention, he hadn't thought about Sukari much, and then it hit him that she could be hiding something, and he switched his head from speaker to speaker.

"Why do you want to help us?" The short plumber had thought about his questions carefully.

"I-I gave you The Stone…" And then she could no longer contain her temper; "I _healed_ your brother, like…_twice_!" And she got up on her paws, "Isn't that enough to say I can be_trusted_?" Mario pinched his lips tighter and stood up, trying to intimidate his opponent. Luigi was a little ashamed at himself for not having asked himself these questions earlier, he was perhaps too convinced by Sukari's friendly offer to even think about the negative aspect.

"Why did you try so hard to prove yourself trustworthy" Bellowed Mario, "what do you _really_ want from us?" And both brothers saw Sukari's eyes fill with sorrow, and she looked past Mario, and went into to a bleak state of forlornness. And Mario's accusative eyes watched the lioness slump herself back down, and she sat in silence.

Luigi turned to Mario, open-mouthed, he was under the impression that Mario had been much too harsh, even if they didn't know to trust Sukari. And Luigi suddenly felt great sympathy for her, so he stood up, walked over and knelt beside her, gently placing a hand on the feline's shoulder. Mario didn't like this; Luigi was choosing the side of someone he didn't fully trust.

"I want the truth, Sukari," Mario barked.

"Hey, there's no need to yell at her," said Luigi defensively; he knew there was risk-taking involved, but like always, his instinct told him to stay in opposition of Mario's anger. And, inevitably, Luigi's life was always full of risks; it was just a matter of taking the right ones, in which case he always followed his instinct.

Mario wasn't listening to Luigi, his fear of betrayal was too strong, and Luigi taking her side, merely gave him more reason to believe her to be manipulative.

Trapped and targeted, the dispirited lioness sighed and shook her head.

"I told you who I am, I'm a lioness, sent from my Kingdom to help."

"Help_who_?" Mario stepped even closer. "You mean like _anyone_, or _us_ in particular?"

Sukari inhaled shakily, "I…anyone…" and her sentence trailed off as she mumbled into her fur.

"Who sent you?" Now Mario was so close that he was breathing down her face, and Luigi nudged him away as a warning.

"I can leave right now." Sukari thwarted, now carrying a hint of bravery in her voice. "But that will leave you lost and alone. And knowing you humans, you wouldn't even survive two days on your own."

For a few seconds, she and Mario were caught in a confrontational stare, until Luigi broke in.

"You're not hiding anything from us, are you Sukari?" He asked, sorrowfully and believingly. Both he and Mario waited for an answer, each expecting different results. Sukari couldn't decide through her inner turmoil what to say.

"Fine," and she stiffened up, strengthening herself for her actions, "I can't tell you any more, but I want to help you." And she fished The Stone out of Luigi's pocket with her claw, quicker than anyone could have witnessed for it to happen. The men stood, wide-eyed. "If you can't trust me," Sukari continued, "I will take this."

"Then take it, we don't need it," said Mario; in a voice that was almost a growl.

"Mario, please!" again in defence, it was Luigi.

"This is the only thing that will save you, if you just leave this be, we can continue onwards and be friends again."

"Oh you'd like it that way, wouldn't you?" Snapped Mario. "You're leading us to a place where you were sent to lead us. Whoever sent you wants us killed, who knows what else you can do, you've already manipulated my gullible brother."

Luigi knew he hadn't been manipulated, but he was on the verge of changing his mind about Sukari. He now knew that she was hiding something, but if only he could bring her to come out with the truth.

"Sukari, just tell us, whatever it is we can do…" But Sukari left all to quickly for him to persuade her. The lioness simply leaped out of the clearing and into the green, to a place where she was beyond sight and reach of the Mario brothers.

"She took The Stone!" yelled Luigi, turning to face his new accusation on Mario, "why couldn't you just leave her be?"

"She was hiding something from us and you know it." Mario said coldly, "you have to be very careful Luigi, this is an unfamiliar world, you never know what is going on. And I thought _you_ above _all_ other people would know that, Luigi!" He was yelling now, the frustration of his brother's ignorance for him only heightened his level of anger.

"But I know she isn't bad, she's a good soul, Mario." He pleaded for Mario's agreement, though he knew it was hopeless to level with his stubborn brother once he had set his mind on something.

"If she was working for someone bad, then we can't follow her, that would be exactly what her boss wants, and like most of them, he probably wants us dead."

Luigi gasped, "You don't think…that Sukari is involved with that shape shifter do you?"

"It is likely, I mean, how else did her portal send us in a world where Sukari, just by chance, happened to come across us both?" He shifted his weight to his other leg, "And also, not telling us her full story, that's what bothers me. If you ask me, Luigi, I think we're best off trying to find our way alone."

Now forlorn, Luigi had nothing else to turn to. Sure, he could argue with Mario all he wanted, but that wouldn't resolve anything. So the plumbers were left, once again, to their own defences, and without the life-saving healing powers of The Stone.

"Where do we go now?" Asked Luigi.

"We head in the complete opposite direction to where Sukari wants us."

"You mean, all the way back?" questioned the stunned plumber. "Shouldn't we go and confront our enemies, like we always do?" Though he usually became petrified at such ideas, Luigi still wanted to support Sukari, and going in the opposite direction would in his mind, be a big mistake.

"Confront our enemies…" And Mario seemed much more calm since the heated argument, and he was for once taking the time to think things through, "Luigi, you're absolutely right! After all, what have we got to lose?" And he looked at Luigi who was clearly shocked at Mario's transformation, but otherwise glad. "Let's get going," Mario continued, confidently, "and we'll take _one_ thing from Sukari; we'll stay away from the open grasses!"

And so, with high hopes, Mario and Luigi set off, not knowing what to expect, but expecting anything.

Soon, the brothers found themselves wading through crisp, blanket-like leaves; they were heading towards the light, which seemed promising enough. Inside the thick shrubbery, they felt almost claustrophobic, held prisoners by giant gnarly fingers, and they ducked and flinched, as thorns, the size of their heads, threatened to jab at them from all angles.

The light was so close now, Luigi felt he could smell the freedom, and then he and Mario dodged daringly through the last yard of thorn bushes, and finally entered the warming sunlight. First, they looked at each other, realising that they had narrowly escaped death, and carried the cuts of many thorn attacks. Mario had a clean cut on his left cheek. It was highly probable to Luigi, that Mario had more cuts elsewhere, for he himself could feel his body stinging with lacerations, his arms and legs, having been more vulnerable when he was running, stung the most.

The pain at the time was quick and sharp, but was slow to catch up with them in the light, and now Luigi could feel it's full effect.

Taking a breather, the brothers looked around with precaution, remembering what Sukari had told them about the dangers, and still carrying the traumatising memories of their recent attack.

There was a large clearing this time; it was a huge, open area, lined with plants and trees. They were standing amidst a large rectangular surface, which they now came to realise resembled concrete. At one corner, across the far side, a path seemed to stretch endlessly in two directions, both leading out to the unknown, and they were once again surrounded by thick, darkening foliage.

When they looked up, they could see the ice-blue sky, and to reflect their sense of weather, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

"It must be winter here." Pondered Luigi. "Funny, it was spring back at home." And there was an awkward silence at the reminder of Mushroom Kingdom.

As Mario remembered, he would at this time, probably be sitting cosily in front of the TV, watching some cheesy sitcom, and indulging in a warm plate of Luigi's mushroom toast for his breakfast. The toast sprung into Luigi's own imagination, and his stomach suddenly growled. Holding his stomach, Luigi tried to think of other things, but then he heard a rustling, and he turned to see that Mario was unwrapping a leaf, which contained his breakfast, and he tore a half off the large mushroom, and handed it to Luigi before wolfing his half down. Luigi ate his slowly; enjoying every mouthful like it was chocolate.

Both exhausted and relieved, Mario and Luigi nestled themselves onto some low-hanging branches, Luigi still chewed on the last bite of his mushroom and began brushing away some cold grass, which carried remnants of morning dew. Then Mario decidedly cupped one of the large droplets in his hands and slurped it to relieve his dry, aching thirst. Observantly, a very thirsty Luigi did the same.

After two minutes, Mario was the first to step forward, he had noticed something else about the concrete, though it was roughly shaped like a rectangle, in the centre of it, was another giant shape cut into it, across it lay a thick log, and Mario stood on the edge of the concrete, peering down. Luigi followed close behind, when he looked down, the first thing he saw was a blanket of light-green-coloured plants, and mixed among them were big and flat, dark-green leaves, out sizing the other plants by hundreds. These plants were sitting atop a very still mass of water, which was not quite ground level to where they were standing.

They both gasped, it made sense to call such a huge body of water a lake, and with the biggest pondweed and lilies they had ever seen. Also, what seemed to be growing in the far right corner, and sky-high in the lake, was some kind of thick-leaved grass, which was browning, like most other surrounding plants, in accordance with the season.

"What do we do now?" Said an anxious Luigi.

"We have to somehow get across that log."

"Why, can't we just go around?"

"No Luigi, that would waste too much time, it's already cold enough here for us to get hypothermia. Just follow me, it'll be easy." And Mario mentally measured the height of the trunk of wood, and seconds later, made a backwards flip onto the nearest end, from which he had the advantage to look down at his little brother. "C'mon, Luigi, jump!" And Mario was right in thinking Luigi was sacred, he was afraid of the log, almost petrified to the bone to even move. But then he thought to himself in his head, _I will be home soon, it's not that hard, c'mon Luigi, just jump…_

And then, without his own full awareness, Luigi somersaulted and skilfully landed his feet next to Mario's on the log.

"You did it!" The older brother applauded, "You can open your eyes now." And Luigi, becoming aware that he had jumped with his hands covering his eyes, had indeed made it. When he took his hands off his eyes, Luigi swaggered to and fro, and then he felt his brother helping to steady him. "Whoa, easy!" He heard Mario say.

They were now stood, meters above the water, luckily for them, the trunk was thick enough for them walk without too much hassle.

Yet they had only begun to walk, when they heard something from behind. In a snapshot moment, they saw the cat, the same big, merciless cat they had encountered all too previously. Mario yelped in terror, and Luigi could do nothing other that stand paralysed to the spot. Mario grabbed Luigi's arm, as he tried to pull him away across the log, Luigi was now only inches away from the beast, and could feel its whiskers brushing on his skin.

"Luigi, get away!" Screamed Mario, as he tugged his brother's blue overalls one last time, forcing Luigi to lose his balance, and he tumbled over, trying instinctively to dig his fingernails into the bark, to stop him from falling. There was an immediate swipe from the cat's paw, as it batted the squirming Luigi. Mario stood over Luigi, placing himself between him and the cat's nose, and he threw a fist at it, causing the feline to flinch, before shortly receiving a blow to his side. And Mario stumbled over his brother, who had just got to his feet, but the cat clamped him down, piercing his left arm with its dewclaw. Luigi shrieked, he had been pinned helplessly to the side of the tree trunk, and half-hanging over the edge, he watched his own feet dangling over the green water.

Enraged, Mario swirled through the air and landed another blow to the cat's muzzle, only to be shocked, as it released its claw. Then Mario skidded on his belly towards Luigi with an outstretched arm, he grabbed at his brother, but missed him.

Luigi felt himself falling, wincing as the cold air contacted with his wounds. Then he entered the water, and he heard it crashing around him, and he instantly felt the chillingly icy water on every inch of his skin. He clenched his shivering body underwater, holding his breath, but he screamed, getting a mouthful of sickly water and weeds.

Mario, in panic, felt he had to jump. He didn't want to risk injuring himself in a fight with the cat, and he was filled with fear for his brother. He also knew cats hated water, making the lake a safe escape. And with all these thoughts swirling in his head, he dived into the water after Luigi.

A/N: If you didn't know who Mario Andretti was, read this: he's a famous Italian-American racecar driver. People tend to refer to him for speed, it's nothing new, but I never heard it being used on Mario, though now I'm questioning whether that's where inspiration for his name came from. Hope that helped some confused readers.


	8. Unsafe water

A/N: Aeolian, lol you want Luigi to become terribly ill?! Well, I hope you like what I've done using that suggestion.

Chapter 7: Unsafe water

As Mario swam up to the surface of the water, his arms were scrambling in panic, "Luigi?" When Luigi was released he had fallen straight down, but hadn't he come back up? Again Mario called, and he shook as the piercingly cold water lapped around his mouth.

Ready to give up, the cat pawed angrily at the water, but wouldn't dare reach in and get its fur wet. The apprehensive plumber hardly noticed. It was inevitable that sooner or later the feline would simply give up and leave.

Mario held his breath and dived under, eyes wide, it was hard to see through the murky water, but he persisted in swimming downwards. The he spotted, through the corner of his eye, the flash of a white glove, as Luigi's hand descended into the darkness. Mario whipped out his hand, as fast as the restricting water would let him, and he grasped it tightly, and heaved. When he had pulled close enough to see Luigi's face, he saw that he was opened-mouthed, and his eyes were shut. He had to grab onto his brother's sides, in order to heave him back up. Mario's head surfaced first, and he gasped for air, and immediately tugged his limp, unconscious brother by the overalls, until his head surfaced as well. Mario kept his hold on Luigi, and shook him. The water around them was turning into a red dye as Luigi's arm bled into it.

"Luigi!" he cried, but he didn't respond, and his face had become frighteningly pale. Mario strained his neck round in search for any way to climb out, and he spotted some wood drifting close by. Mario let go of Luigi with one hand and used it to quickly paddle in the direction of the wood, and then he quickly used his free hand to grab on, wrapping his short arm around as best he could. The driftwood was large enough for him to shove Luigi on top. And after Luigi was out of the water, he pulled himself on too, with enough room to sit at his side.

Mario put his hands on Luigi's cold cheeks, and slapped at them, muttering "Breathe...breathe." But his brother wasn't breathing.

And suddenly, Mario felt the cold get to him properly for the first time that day. He felt himself lose control, and shook Luigi, almost violently slamming his back down on the log. "No!"

Then suddenly Luigi inhaled. And he spluttered and coughed up some water.

"Luigi!" screeched Mario, he was overcome with relief, and wasn't exactly sure whether he was laughing or crying. "I can't believe my own luck, I thought I'd lost you." Luigi coughed again, and Mario cradled his beloved brother, not caring how much wetter and colder this made him.

When Luigi stopped coughing, Mario released him, and saw that the colour of his face hadn't come back, and he was shivering, in a way that seemed uncontrollable, whereas Mario wasn't shivering at all.

The concerned older brother wrapped an arm around Luigi and then used his already wet feet to manoeuver their raft to dry land. It took longer than expected, as the wood was heavy and hard to navigate, it kept tipping and trying to throw them overboard. Then as the wood was close enough to the edge, Mario seized Luigi onto his feet. And Luigi staggered onto the edge, with his brother trying to support him, but his legs felt too weak to stand, and he collapsed in Mario's arms, coughing up what seemed like buckets of more water. Mario tried to help him by hitting his back, and Luigi just choked more, this time producing a green, slimy substance, which looked like some sort of algae.

"You've swallowed a lot of water." Said Mario, stating the obvious. "Did you swallow some of that green stuff, Luigi?"

"I don't know…maybe." Luigi managed to say between coughs.

"Well we need to get you warmed up, you're shivering like you've seen a boo." And Mario hugged him sympathetically, sharing his body-warmth.

Being in a giant land, the Mario brothers realised, had its advantages, for they had very easily found a cave, or rather a large rock, with an opening where it didn't quite meet the ground. Inside was enough space for two Luigi-sized men.

Time passed. Mario was kneeling outside the cave-entrance, tending to an open flame, and Luigi lay near him, under the overhang of the cave, next to the fire. Luigi relished the feeling of the warm, comfortable glow, drying the moisture off his clothes. Mario had taken his shoes off for him, and placed them near the fire, and done the same with his own shoes and cap, which had amazingly stayed on his head the whole time. Of course, Mario hardly ever lost his cap underwater, even when in battle, not even with Bonefin did he lose his cap.

Luigi's left arm was bound tightly with something leafy, Mario had to make do with what little was available for a bandage to stop the bleeding.

Mario was beginning to think that Luigi had fallen asleep, when he heard him groan. Mario approached his brother in silence, and whispered his name, to let him know he was there. Luigi looked up and his pain-filled eyes met with Mario's anguished ones.

"What's wrong? Is it your arm?" blurted Mario.

"Ugh- yeah-" he coughed, "my arm" and he knew he wasn't telling Mario the full truth. But he was sick of his brother worrying for him, knowing that his own pain was torturing his brother mentally. In reality, though his wound alone felt like it was being eaten by acid, he believed there was something else, internally wrong with him.

Watching the cold air extinguished its mood in the flames, Luigi was having much difficulty sleeping. He stirred as much as the pain would allow him, and was trying to stay calm himself, so as not to wake Mario, who was snoozing by his side, undoubtedly broken down from exhaustion.

Inside his mind, Luigi felt things were happening, things that were becoming unbearably real in his conscience. He saw a figure in front of him, like a ghostly mirage, outstretching its arm. Luigi began to wheeze and gasp, his fear again creeping closer, and then the image approached the light, and he saw a kind, familiar face, instantly calming him.

"Luigi" Princess Peach greeted warmly. "Why don't you come home, Luigi?" and she giggled cheerfully.

"Princess…" Luigi pleaded, "…Is it really you?" he outstretched his good arm, but the princess didn't take his hand, she just smiled.

"Come, Luigi." And she stepped aside, revealing a cloudy image of his home, and then Luigi wanted to be there so badly, he got up. "We're right here, waiting for you." Peach called. But she wasn't in sight, and Luigi called her name, to bring her back. He found he was inside his home, surrounded by all of his beloved objects. He felt the wood on the kitchen table, and then he spotted his favourite wrench, and held it, turning it in his hands.

The aroma of cooked pasta sauce filled his attention, and he placed his wrench on the table and drew himself closer to the two bubbly pots on the stove; one filled with pasta sauce, and the other with the magnificent pasta itself.

This feeling was too good for Luigi to begin to wonder about its catch. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, Luigi noticed it was Mario who had been cooking the pasta.

"Hey Luigi" he smiled a smile that Luigi had almost forgotten about. "C'mon, you have to meet me and the others this way." Then he began to leave, very slowly, and Luigi followed after him, but struggled. His feet felt as heavy as lead, and every step seemed to be dragging him slower and slower back.

"Wait!" Luigi screamed. "Wait! I want to follow you! Mario!"

Mario was fading before his eyes, and he caught a glimpse of the princess, repeating words, which made no sense to him. Luigi kept moving, screaming for them and for some chance of understanding, no matter how hard. Then they were gone, disappeared as quickly as they had come. Luigi gasped, and felt himself falling, until his house faded away, and he was outside, back to reality, and his hands hit the ground, catching his fall. A piercing pain shot through his arm, and he screamed and collapsed on the ground, where he lay breathless.

It was a matter of minutes until Luigi could gather his awareness. He bounced back onto his feet, and his eyes flicked around, he could not understand fully what had happened. The best sense he could make of that strange experience was that he had hallucinated, and perhaps sleepwalked to this place. Now he could barely recollect the direction in which he had travelled. If only he could see the campfire from here, it would be a great relief, but there was no sign of a fire, no point of reference.

Luigi felt a shiver run down his spine, there was an eerie and unsettling silence. And he wondered whose side the sun was on, as he felt it watch him, and it leered at him from behind a small hiding place in the sky, seemingly not wanting to share its warmth.

And Luigi noticed, looking around, that everything was covered in a thin white sheet of snow. It had settled, without him noticing probably for only a short time earlier.

Mario's eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw was the died-out fire, the snow being responsible. He shivered in the chill which was touching him so near the cave-entrance.

"Mario, you have to get up!" Screamed a voice. Mario rolled over and saw Sukari staring him right in the face.

"You!" He said angrily.

"Wait, I have to tell you something-" and se was forced to cut her sentence as the angry plumber interrupted her.

"Where is Luigi?" He yelled as he scrambled to his feet, and pointed an accusative finger at the lioness, "If you did anything to my brother…"

"Just listen to me!" Sukari roared, "I don't know where your brother is, but I have to tell you that you are in grave danger. Bowser has sent troopers out to capture you."

"Bowser?" Mario drew back slightly but then returned to poking Sukari in the face. "I should have known that's who was behind this." Then Mario realised, that he had been too preoccupied with the worry for his brother, and their survival to think about the inevitable idea of Bowser.

Sukari sighed. "Take this." And she held out a paw, hastily revealing her gift.

Mario's eyes widened when he saw the object.

"A fire flower!" But his voice showed no change from the anger, and his eyes quickly flicked back onto hers. "I don't want it" he lied.

"Please Mario, I don't want you to bump into those troopers unprotected." Sukari said, showing great concern. Then she showed him a second gift, identical to the last. "This one's for Luigi." She added.

And Mario didn't want to accept the gifts, so symbolic of her forgiveness. But he persuaded himself to snatch the fire flowers from her, not removing his eyes off of hers. Then he shoved them in his pocket, sighed and stared at the ground.

"Thanks." He finally muttered under his breath. "Now are you sure you haven't seen Luigi?"

"No, when did you last see him?"

"Last night, he was very sick…and injured…I thought I heard him say something, but I must have fallen right back to sleep."

Then Sukari opened her mouth to say something, but then she seemed distracted, and changed her mind.

"I have to leave. Go find your brother." And then she crouched for a run-up and leaped out of sight; in the same way she had done all too soon.

Immediately Mario turned and started out, and tramped down the gradual slope towards the grass line below. Then, somewhat farther down the slope, he found a small stream. Clueless, he called his brother's name. After a few minutes, he heard a reply. Then he turned his head to the left, in the location of the sound.

He saw Luigi, barely standing, trembling with every step as he neared him. When Mario reached Luigi, he opened his arms to catch his fall, and he held his brother who was beginning to cough.

"Oh, Luigi." He said. "It's alright, you just had a nightmare." And he rocked his sick, frightened brother, comfortingly.

Mario had seen his brother experience nightmares before, and he knew from a young age that he was prone to them, but having found him ill and lost through sleepwalking built new fear in Mario's heart.

Soon Luigi had calmed, feeling safer from his brother's comfort, and when Mario let him relax against a tree, he almost fell to the side, but Mario propped him quickly back up. Then the older brother knelt down by the running water, cupped some into his hands and swallowed a few mouthfuls. When he decided it was okay to drink, he scooped some more and emptied his palms into Luigi's mouth. Luigi spluttered, and then swallowed, having much needed some hydration.

Then Mario reached into his pocket and handed Luigi a fire flower, receiving a look of shock from his brother.

"W-where did you get that?" Luigi coughed.

"From Sukari." Mario said, giving his brother a friendly wink.

Luigi's weak fingers grabbed onto the fire flower, at least he was armed with some form of defense, should an enemy show up. The power that he felt didn't heal him from his pain and nausea, but the relief he felt from the presence of his brother put determination into him, building enough strength into his muscles to enable him to walk. He showed this by getting back onto his feet, and now he and Mario could move on.

The two men looked for a place to cross the ice-banked stream, already too wide to jump. They saw a tree that had fallen across, making a natural bridge, and headed for it. Mario led the way, and, reaching for a handhold, he put a foot on one of the exposed roots. Luigi glanced around, waiting his turn.

"Mario! Look out!" He cried suddenly.

A stone whipped past the small man's head. As he dropped to the ground at the warning cry, his hand reached for his fire flower when six figures stepped out from the nearby brush. They were surrounded.

"Koopa troopers!" Luigi cried, pulling back a fireball in his good arm and taking aim.

"Wait, Luigi!" Mario shouted. "They've got us outnumbered."

"The big one looks like the leader of the pack, if I get him, the rest may run." He pulled back his arm again."

"No! They may rush us before we can formulate a second fireball. Right now I think we're holding them off – they're not making a move." Mario slowly got to his feet, keeping his weapon ready. "Don't move, Luigi. Let them make the next move. But keep your eyes on the big one. He can see you're aiming for him."

Luigi studied the big green-shelled trooper. For a long tense moment, no one moved.

Some of the troopers were armed with clubs, and the largest of clubs belonged to the leader, who furrowed his brow and took aim at Luigi. When the koopa flicked its wrist, letting go of the club, Luigi instantly thrust his fireball toward it, ducking to avoid the slower, less close-range weapon of a club. The large trooper shielded its face from the fire, and the smaller more nervous ones began to jump up and down in fear.

The Mario brothers knew the behaviour of these common enemies; they were weak, slow-witted and jittery. If the leader trooper was to give up, they had a good chance of outsmarting the others in combat, should they now run at their leader's defeat.

Luigi's fireball struck the trooper's hands, and he yowled in pain, causing his followers to panic. Three of them, forgetting their training of defence tactics, hurled their clubs aimlessly at the two plumbers, who dodged them easily.

"Fools!" The leader roared in anger. "Wait for your orders!" And the smaller koopas seemed to want to wilt into their shells, but hardened up as best they could. The three, who still had their clubs at hand, beat their palms with them as they closed in on the brothers.

Mario quickly formed the next fireball, and aimed it at the nearest clubbed koopa, who screeched even before it had hit him, and dropped his club in fear.

"Pick up your club, it's only a fireball!" Bellowed the angry leader to the koopa. But the fear-stricken turtle was too slow to obey its order, as Mario had quickly taken the club for himself.

"Never mind" roared the large koopa, "We already have them outnumbered, get them!"

Then all the turtles charged toward their enemies, and they broke off their powers as they contacted them, then Mario lost the club had been holding. Left with no more fireballs at hand, they used their fists and elbows to try to shake them off. The leader stood mostly aback, rubbing where his hands had been burnt, and watched his troop do all the work.

Luigi let out a startling cry as a koopa harshly grabbed his left arm, ringing his wound with pain. Three of them had taken hold of him, while the other three were wrestling Mario to the ground. The smaller plumber thrashed at the turtles with his fists and feet, but he was in too much of a restrictive position to jump on them, a commonly used attack on these enemies, and he was being weighed down by the koopas' so tightly, that he could barely breath. The other three were about to pin Luigi down too, when Mario suddenly flipped three koopas into the air, using a spin-attack on them. The koopas yelled through the air and two of them were smashed into trees while the other plunged into the stream. Mario was free, and he glowered at the leader as a warning.

"Let him go." He threatened, readying his fists. "Or do I have to bust all of you?"

The three remaining koopas glanced at their leader, awaiting his decision. "Hand him to me." Their boss snarled, not removing his eyes off of Mario. The turtles thrust Luigi forward, shoving him into their mighty leader, who seized him by the arm, and Luigi screamed. The leader smiled smugly, he had observed the man's weakness slyly beforehand, and now he was using it to his advantage. Mario's eyes were wide with bitter fury.

"I wont fight you if you let him go." He said, carefully choosing his words.

"If you agree to surrender, I promise no more harm will come to him." The turtle growled, "Half of my men are down, we can now only take one of you back if it is in resistance." And he scratched his formless chin with one of his hands, as he deliberately used the other to crush Luigi's arm tighter. The next scream resonated in Mario's ears, and he was now finding it difficult to control himself.

"I will go with you if you promise to let my brother go." The plumber hastened to compromise.

"I can't let any of you go free, Mario. But I can kill him." Another squeeze. Another scream.

" . . . Then I shall take my life for his own."

"Don't be stupid Mario!" Luigi yelped between quick breaths, his voice itself full of pain. He was immediately punished with a horrible arm yank, which almost sent him falling to the ground, but the hold from the koopa's arm kept him seized to his feet.

"Bowser doesn't want you dead." He said apathetically. Then he turned to his koopas. "Take the weaker one." He ordered. And they immediately picked up the almost lifeless plumber, it was effortless, as Luigi's body wasn't cooperating fully with his mind, and all he could do was writhe like a worm under their grasp for a short interval before he ran out of energy again.

"No! Let him go!" But it was too late. And the koopas did something unexpected; they sprouted wings, and flew, including the leader, whose large body acquired extra large wings to lift off the ground.

Mario charged after them, and threw his desperate hands at their ascending bodies, and managed to grab onto one of the small koopa's feet. In turn, the surprised turtle yelped and he bumped into the other near to it. The leader, on hearing the commotion, drew a stunned face.

"Hold on to him." He barked, "I think I can carry him myself." And he hovered closer to Mario and grabbed him, his tiny body lost in his two hands. And he laughed evilly, "Now we wont have to bother coming back and starting a new search for this one." And suddenly he yelped, as he felt Mario attack him from inside his fists. He flinched his hands away in agony, as he got a sharp reminded of his earlier scorching.

"Damn it!" bellowed the graceless flier, but he then turn his other cheek, "Ah, forget about him for now, we have the bait that will soon lure him in."

Mario found himself falling from a great height, he screeched in fear, trying to fight the gravity, but this only seemed to be making it worse, and then he collided with a tree, hitting several branches on the way down, but he managed to grip onto a branch before he could fall to his certain death, several meters below.

Fear charged through him, tingling him into awareness. With effort, he hauled himself up, feeling the strain in his arms from hanging on as he recovered.

From his viewpoint he tried to pinpoint where in the sky he had fallen from, and looking up he could see a very small dot moving toward the mountains. And he stared, as the koopas seemed to be heading not up the mountain, but directly in their shadow, and between the two most pronouncing ones.

Mario made a mental note of this landmark for future reference, before he hurried his way down the tree, trying at the same time to be careful to avoid any branches, which my seem breakable.

"I'm coming Luigi." He breathed. "I'm coming to rescue you if it's the last thing I do."

A/N: lol way to much Luigi torture, I know.


	9. The Cavern Portalstones

A/N: My apologies everyone! Aeolian, if you happened to have died while you were waiting for me to post this, then take this one-up mushroom to revive yourself so you can read.

CHAPTER 9: The Portalstone Cavern

"Healing stone?" Bowser burst out with laughter. "You actually disguised this primitive communication device into something which heals?" His bellowing laughter shook the walls, which surrounded them in the dark, dank room. Sukari was standing opposite him, expressionlessly.

"I yielded some magic to make it glow." Her voice was apathetic, almost reduced to a mumble. "…Of course, I had to use some healing magic." She added.

Bowser turned the stone-like object in his large, scaly hand and sniggered. "Well, those plumbers won't be getting any _more_ healing, rest assured." The koopa king grinned and cast the object on the cold, stone ground as a sign of control. Sukari gave him a displeased look, and Bowser didn't react, until he noticed the hint.

"In case I haven't been clear, you're not free to go until the Mario brothers are dead. I don't want you ruining my plans now do I?"

"Kill them?" She breathed. "_You_ said-"

Suddenly Bowser turned and towered over her. "Who came to your rescue when the Pridelands were engulfed in flames? Who saved your life?" Bowser snapped, and Sukari could feel her fur blowing under his warm, putrid breath.

"You did." She sighed.

"That's right. Now the least you can do is help me out just a little longer."

There was no reply, but Sukari lowered herself almost to the ground in fear. And Bowser put his chin high, looking down his nose at her until he remembered something.

"Where are those half-wit troopas?" He snapped at no one in particular. "What's taking them so long?"

"I'll go and find them." Sukari said.

Around them, the only light that was present was coming from two tall stones, which shone a bright, turquoise-blue light. The stones were situated opposite each other in the centre of the cave, with approximately six feet between them. Near the door stood a very disinterested-but dopey-looking koopa. He had been asked to stay on lookout.

"Yes." Replied Bowser. "I suppose you could. I have been waiting a while." Then he turned his attention to the stones. "I can't wait to get my hands on those Mario brothers…for too long have I been waiting to kill them. The portalstones should be fully powered-up by then…and they are going to reopen the portal, so I can return to finally conquer the galaxy without anyone stopping me." And he let out another laugh to celebrate his future victory.

"Those portalstones wont even last here in this cave, Bowser." Sukari yelled, turning to him from the entrance, "They're solar powered."

"What do _**you**_ know?" Bowser snapped. "Just go and find those troopas before I change my mind about letting you."

Luigi snapped into awareness, as he felt his body shudder.

"On your feet, wretch." He heard a troopa order; this was accompanied by a sharp jab to his back. Luigi forced himself onto his feet, where his eyes were roughly level with the six koopa troopas. They had apparently each equipped themselves with a spear, as these were pointed at him in a circle. The boss troopa stepped in front and waddled over to a nearby cave entrance, Luigi assumed he was just at the foot of the mountains.

"Oh, Bowser!" It hollered. "Bowser! We have captured one of the Marios." Seconds later, the very excited Koopa King, stampeded out, almost trampling the troopa out of the way.

When Bowser saw Luigi, in his troopas' possession, he bellowed with laughter, for what seemed to last five minutes, before putting on a grin that was bigger than his face. "Finally." He exhaled, and stomped close to Luigi. Three of the troopas stepped aside for their own safety. Bowser slung his club-like fist forward and nabbed Luigi by the collar, lifting the small man off his feet so he was level with his eyes. Luigi dangled his legs and stared, horrified into Bowser's red-orange eyes. And the monster seemed to want to growl something in his face.

"I have been waiting for this moment for so long." And he turned to address his minions. "Let's make it last." The troopas exchanged smirks and grins amongst each other, and then they cheered for their boss' success, raising their spears above their heads. Then they began all blabbing at once, blurting out ways to kill him.

"Feed him to the birds!" Yelled one.

"Bleed him!" Screamed another.

"Silence!" The voices all came to a stop. "I make the decisions here! Have you numbskulls not realised we are still missing the other Mario brother?" The troopas all looked down and toed ashamedly at the dirt. "The reason I let you bring one in the first place was because we can use one to lure in the other." Bowser swept up a few rocks in his hand, still carrying Luigi with the other, and chucked them at the troopas, who jumped up and down as if they were under fire. The last thing he threw at them was not a stone, but Luigi, and they scrambled like bowling pins to try to get a hold of the plumber as he flew at them. Eventually, two troopas had each got a hold of one of his arms; Luigi found he didn't stand a chance trying to fight himself free, all he managed to do was kick them in the chins a few times, but their thick scales seemed to be protecting them. His feet stopped moving as his heart sped and his stomach started to burn with a different fear.

_What of Mario?_

Luigi almost hoped that his brother wouldn't come for his rescue, for the fear of him falling prey to Bowser. But part of him also wanted to see him. He couldn't remember what had happened, _was Mario still alive?_ The last thing he could remember was that Mario was falling from a great height, these thoughts brought Luigi's heart hammering in his chest.

"Damnit!" Bowser barked. "That Mario seems to be taking his time." Now he was pacing back and forth, purposely showing his lack of patience.

"I know what we can do to make him get here faster." Suggested the troopa boss.

"What, Chordoss?"

"We could make him scream." Replied Chordoss. "That way Mario will know where we are, and what we are ready to do if he doesn't get here in time." And he let out a grin to show his pride in himself.

Bowser laughed, apparently amused by the idea, then his face went blank as he nodded, trying to hide his admiration for Chordoss.

"Yes…I like it." He added, coldly staring Luigi in the eyes.

"Bowser!" Screamed an unidentifiable voice. Everybody turned toward the direction of the cave.

Running and huffing up toward them was the same small, clumsy-looking koopa, which had been standing at the cave-entrance, with a look of fear in his eyes. "Bowser! The portal, she's losing power!"

"What?" Snapped Bowser.

"The…the powerstones are…they're losing power…" He managed between breaths, "one of them is already out!"

Without further questioning, Bowser stormed past the little koopa and headed straight for the powerstones. Inside the cave, he gasped when he saw that indeed one of his precious two stones had turned black. "What! How is this happening?" He bellowed, causing the very walls of the cave to shake and rumble, and bits of the ceiling rained down on his head. "Blasted powerstones!" Bowser slammed his fist hard into a stalagmite, cracking it in two.

"Umm…Bowser?" Said the weary koopa when he finally caught up, "Didn't Sukari say something about sunlight?" And he immediately flinched away from Bowser; as he turned his fiery eyes at him, letting out a long, deep sigh of thought. When the thought had passed, the angry Koopa king slammed a flying fist into the koopa, shooting him away out of the cave.

The troopas, who were close behind, ducked when they saw the green blur fly toward them at an incredible speed. The two koopas that were holding Luigi didn't get hit, but the one in the back hadn't been paying attention, and was knocked clear out of sight.

Chordoss led the others into the cave, as he went to speak to Bowser, who had been observing the stones in annoyance.

"The powerstones need sunlight, sir, they're solarpow-"

"I know they need sunlight!" He interrupted. "So help me move them!" and he began trying to heave one of the bluely lit stones off the ground, toppling it with great difficulty.

"Very well, King Bowser." Chordoss obeyed. And he waved an arm, which signalled for the others to help lift the stones. The two troopas holding Luigi stood by, watching.

Suddenly, Luigi felt a jolt of pain as his back contacted the black stone. He groaned, and no one took any notice until the stone flickered some blue light as Luigi flinched away from it, but then it turned black again. Bowser's attention was immediately drawn to the flicker, which gave him a new hope.

"Put him against the stone." He said interestedly to the two troopas, which obeyed. When they forced the plumber against the black stone, it again began to flicker; Luigi shrieked with pain, he could feel it eating away at him, draining him of his energy. He tried to force the troopas' hands away, and they let him, to see the result. And as expected, the stone went black.

Bowser was laughing, "Humans are a power source for the portalstones? … Can that be?" And then he laughed, rubbing his hands.

"It would only last a short time." Said Chordoss. "The stone will drain out all his energy until he dies."

"Brilliant!" Bowser grinned. "Make sure that his fate is to become a sacrifice for the portal."


	10. An Atmospheric Gift

CHAPTER 10: An atmospheric gift

"Mario!" Sukari hailed. And the small man jolted at the sound of his name. He almost tripped over his foot as he had been running, and having been called almost gave him an excuse to catch his breath back. The urgency in Sukari's voice grabbed him.

"Mario! Wait, it's a trap. Bowser plans to kill you!" Sukari knew as he was already approaching the foot of the mountains, and without anything to defend himself with, that he was about to put himself in grave danger. The lioness leaped in front of Mario, trying to affect his next decision.

"He's got Luigi!" Mario yelled. Then he paused for second and said, "What has he done to him?" in his last few words his tone grew quieter but more tense, and his eyes were concentrated on Sukari.

"Yes he has, and you have to do something, but for crying out loud, he's got four koopa troopers including himself in there; you _need_ a weapon."

And Mario continued to stare at her for a few seconds and then nodded.

"You're right…but _what_?" And his eyes scanned the brush that was surrounding them. Then he snatched up a stick he had found near his feet.

"That won't do any good, Mario." And she held out a closed paw, strained and opened it. "Here, that's my last fire flower." And Mario took it and thanked her. "Are you injured?" Sukari asked.

"No I'm fine. Just let me go." But as the plumber prepared himself to run, Sukari stopped him abruptly again by saying his name.

"You'll never make it in time. Hop on my back." And the lioness crouched down to invite him on. Mario's expression at first changed from determined to surprise, but unexpectedness had been his life for a while now, and he forced himself to get over the idea, and quickly hopped onto the lioness' back.

"Hold tight." She shouted. And the kick-off threw Mario into the air, but he managed to grope the scruff of her neck to catch himself in time with one hand, and at a progressive rate, they moved like the wind.

All Mario could see, was the thick green wilderness rushing past him like his inner turmoil. His vision was blurred by a heavy blast of cold wind, which irritated his eyes, and he gritted his teeth, wishing for the time to fly as fast as possible.

Bowser felt great enjoyment at this time. He saw his future dreams unfolding in his mind; so close he could almost embrace them. And he snapped into awareness, suddenly remembering his first long-awaited pleasure, to destroy the Mario brothers.

Luigi cared greatly for the well being of all the innocent lives, which were endangered at this moment, and a wave of worry hit him whenever he thought about having lost. Had he? Was this the end? But his heart kept interrupting his mind with screams, and these were for his brother, who's questionable fate put him in agony.

Was Mario coming? He didn't know the answer, because he had no clue as to whether he was alive or dead. And if he was he wounded, bleeding to death, somewhere in the woods, to be ravaged by cats and lower wild beasts? Then had they lost? It was now suddenly clear to Luigi,_until Mario arrives at the scene,__assuming he is alive_,_the fate of the universe rests on me…_

The two koopas were still holding Luigi restrained by the arms. The portalstone, another heart-stopping factor, was just inches away from his back. The only thing the minions needed to hear was a single order from Bowser, and Luigi wouldn't be able to help himself any more. This meant that now was his chance to act, while the koopas least expected it. He hadn't tried to fight himself free in a while, and they were supposedly under the impression that he had given up trying. So now was the time.

Luigi's eyes widened, and as fast as his strength would allow him, he thrust his arms away from the koopas' hands, and tried to run forward, but he was too fast for his weak body. He groaned as his legs collapsed under him, he had not realised how much energy the portalstone had already stolen from him. The koopas were shocked, but Bowser screamed at them, and they immediately rushed to scoop Luigi back up. The weak plumber forced himself back onto his feet once more, but staggered again, as they hauled him away.

"Tie him to the stone!" Bellowed the angered Bowser. "And make sure it's tight!" he then stepped over to him, raised a paw, and slashed into his chest with his claws, the man screamed.

"That's for my troubles!" Grinned Bowser. And he laughed with amusement at Luigi's pleas, as the boss koopa stepped forward and rammed him backward, while the three smaller ones, supplied with rope, constricted him against the portalstone. Three loops were made around his stomach and the stone; they pulled it so tight he was forced to gasp for air. Now he was fastened to it, incapable of moving, he was in a horrific state of pain. He tried to suppress his screams, not wanting to show Bowser his pain, but he failed.

"Luigi!" The angered shriek tore in from Mario's throat and shook the very walls of the cavern.

Driven into action, the red and blue plumber had already leaped off of Sukari and drew up his fists at Bowser in a striking pose; he was flower-powering up – his clothes changing to white and orange in accordance, but he was barely able to take his eyes off the screaming, contorting man that was his brother.

"A fire flower!" Jeered Bowser, "Sukari, how dare you betray me?" He had such anger inside him, that it wrinkled the very scales in his face. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway, you don't stand a chance Mario, you might as well give up now." And then he shot a finger at the troopers, "Get him!"

Mario cupped a fireball in his hands. From the depths of his fear and anger, he didn't think, he reacted. Within seconds, the cave was ablaze with flames; Bowser roared, most of them had hit him, and all his troopers, including the boss, fled from the cave, looking like living fireballs, desperate to extinguish themselves in the river.

"You're all fired!" Their boss screamed at them. He slapped at the flames on his stomach and sides, only some of them went out. Then he turned to Mario, who was holding back another handful of fire, he was giving Bowser the chance to surrender first.

"Let Luigi go!" Mario ordered, not sounding as assertive as he had hoped. When Bowser didn't react, he clenched his fists tighter and strengthened his voice, "Untie him. Now!"

Luigi's scream had already weakened in tune with his energy, and had been replaced by noisy, difficult breaths. Bowser stomped up to Mario, so he was close enough to breath down his neck,

"He's dead Mario…and so are you." His giant paw crashed into the small man, and his fireball hit Bowser just as Mario felt himself hit the wall with a great force. He heard Bowser's ear-ripping roar, and then a thunderous crashing sound behind him.

Mario forced himself to his feet, and saw through the corner of his eye that Bowser had collapsed one of the cave walls, but he was somewhere on the other side of it.

Mario groped for the ropes that held Luigi, careless of his own safety, and flinched off them when he touched the portalstone. His heart constricted painfully, the noises Luigi made were like knives to his heart, the silence as his scream was cut short was even worse.

The older brother fought with the thick rope that was killing Luigi, and scolded his hands. Then he stepped back as a thought entered his mind, and he used the last fireball he had, to singe through the rope. Luigi was freed, and he fell into his brother's arms.

"Luigi! Oh, no!" He kneeled, as the weight of him was too much to bear, he put his ear to his brother's chest, listening for a heartbeat, and was afraid he only imagined hearing it until he saw him breathing.

"Mario," Sukari broke in, "he's alive!"

"Oh, Luigi, oh please live, oh please!" Mario's voice cracked and a huge sob welled up in his breast.

Mario bowed his head, sobbed into his brother's limp shoulder a moment, then he heard Sukari next to him.

"The portal should be opening…something's wrong."

Mario was silent as before, not responding to Sukari, possibly ignoring her. There was a rip in Luigi's left arm sleeve where the cat had injured him before, but it didn't bleed, his chest however had angry red claw marks across it, and a bloodstain growing larger.

"I don't know what to do, I…" Mario sat back on his heels, pulled his hand through his hair, and left bloodstains on his face. "I…wait! The Stone! I can heal him!" And his eyes darted around for a moment, "Sukari! Where's the healing stone?" And Sukari bowed her head.

"Mario…The Stone isn't real" The lioness was filled with guilt, "…I lied to you."

"Then how did he get healed?" Mario snapped. "You must have healing powers, heal him!"

And she lifted her head. "…I didn't use any healing…I don't know what happened..."

Just then, Luigi inhaled and sat up, he was conscious, but his arms were flapping like he was having a nightmare, "No! Stop! Mario!"

"Luigi! It's ok, I'm here!" Mario hushed, and he held his brother for a moment to calm him down, then he looked at him, "How do you feel?"

"I feel…fine," he said quietly.

And Mario felt his brother's chest, "Luigi! You're healed…but how?"

Then Sukari padded over to examine him.

"Luigi…" and she almost couldn't believe her eyes, "you can heal!"

"What?" mouthed the younger brother, "but…how can that be?"

"I think this has been going on for a while, Luigi." The lioness began explaining to the shocked faces, "The Stone was a fake, it hadn't done anything…this is a strange world to you, it is possible that you have like, absorbed some power in the atmosphere around Klaw Island, I'm not sure _how_ exactly. It happened to _me_ too, but it'll run out shortly after you get home, into a different galaxy…have you been healing too, Mario?"

"I don't think so, I haven't had any fatal injuries."

Then Luigi looked at his brother's bloodstained face.

"You're still scarred on your face since we went through the thorn bushes" he said "…but are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." Mario reassured, "this blood is probably from you."

"We need sunlight in order to finish charging that portalstone." Sukari changed the subject, "We'll never be able to move it out of here, and so here's my plan; we make a hole in the roof of the cave to let in the light-" Her sentence was cut short.

There was a thunderous crashing sound, which echoed the cave walls, and they nearly lost their balance as the ground under their feet began to tremble.

Bowser thumped down in front of them, madder than ever, and Luigi thought he could see steam erupting from his ears. Bowser didn't say anything, just roared at them, and opened his huge jaws, drew in his breath and breathed out a gigantic faming hot blast of fire, directly at them.

Unprepared, the three victims were slow to get to their feet, and Mario was the last to get up. Luigi, who still felt like he was living off the last of his energy, but boosted by his newfound gift, grabbed Mario's collar and pulled him out the way of the flame. Sukari had jumped instinctively, in a trigger reaction, but could smell her own fur had been singed.

"The ceiling is caving in!" Screamed Mario.

"Get between the stones!" Luigi had to scream at the top of his voice, over the loud crashing of the walls, and as they saw what he was about to do, they shrieked; Luigi was going for the portalstone.

"Luigi, no!" And Mario tried to seize him in the opposite direction, "You'll get crushed!"

"He's right, Luigi!" Sukari burst in, "You can heal. You can't_resurrect_ yourself!"

But Luigi knew that the portal was the only chance of getting home, and he could open the portal with a chance of surviving. If this worked, he definitely wasn't going to make it through the portal, but at least his brother was, and this was what convinced him to do it.

As soon as Luigi threw himself onto the stone, everyone in the cave was almost blinded, and Mario instantly recognised the blue, wavy light, which was growing in the centre of the two stones, and his mind recollected on how he had seen the portal out of his kitchen window.

Luigi was blasted off of the stone with great force, from its new power, and no one could see where he had landed, amongst all of the obscuring rocks falling in the air.

Bowser shielded his eyes, and roared again, this time in defeat, and he dived for the portal, his escape, but before he reached it, he stopped, a large boulder had landed on his head, and it cracked over his skull, and fell. Bowser stood up, shook himself, he had a very thick skull, and after an immediate recovery, he ran the other way. When he was safely outside, they heard his laughter echo into the cave.

"My victory may have been delayed, but at least you are all doomed for good!"

The ceiling broke into increasingly larger pieces, until about twenty boulders, the size of bullet bills, were cascading around them. Sukari dodged them more easily, but she couldn't keep it up much longer, as any trapped animal, her instinct told her she had to get out,

"Mario! Quick! The portal!" She shouted through the obscuring screen of rocks.

Mario was scaling a pile of rocks, in an effort to reach Luigi, but he couldn't see him, _had he been buried? _

"Come!" he heard Sukari yell, and then he felt himself being lifted off the ground, as Sukari was carrying him by his overall straps in her mouth. Mario struggled,

"Let go!" he screamed, reaching with is arms in the other direction, but Sukari was already leaping into the portal. Just as they were through, two rocks smashed the portalstones to pieces, and each individual piece flickered for a moment as it hit the ground, and then faded out to black.


	11. The galshion's past

A/N: I feel awful for not updating this in so long. I've been writing this piece by piece at every opportunity I got, my life is SO hectic right now, and I feel really under pressure. Anyway, I can't update for another week at least because I'm busy on schoolwork and trips and making videos etc…anyway, I worked really hard on this to make it worth the wait, as always.

CHAPTER 11: The galshion's past

Luigi's eyes shot open before he could gather his sense of awareness, causing him to experience a brief moment of panic when all that he saw before him was darkness. Then as he tried to move, he realised he couldn't.

After a brief moment of recollecting his whereabouts, Luigi knew that he had been entrapped by the rock fall and was now enclosed in a narrow space, and he tried to once again move his arms and legs to see how restricted he was.

He could slightly move his tightly cramped body, if with a little difficulty, except for his right leg.

As Luigi realised this, he was hit by a wave of panic, in the small dark confined area. Beginning to experience difficulty in breathing, Luigi felt the unreasonably narrow space was claustrophobic, but the twisting turmoil in his head would not allow his conscience to gather up fully.

"Let go of me!" Mario repeated. And he then hit the ground, instantly gathering his footing and shot Sukari with a glare. He opened his mouth briefly to say something, but he new there was little point in yelling at her, so he changed his mind and turned a cold shoulder.

The portal had closed behind them; it was non-existent without its power source, and had appeared in roughly the same area as before.

"Mushroom Kingdom." Mario said, his voice was almost a whisper.

Some of the reason for which he said those words was for Sukari's understanding, but most of it was to reassure himself that he was not completely at loss of speech.

In silence, Sukari stood staring at the ground next to Mario, her heart felt heavy and burdened, but she couldn't even imagine how Mario felt.

However, she couldn't force herself to speak, she was too afraid she might say the wrong thing, so she simply waited for Mario to take the next action, just wishing that the right words would come to her in time.

"Who's that?" She said suddenly. Unexpectedly, her sensitive hearing had picked up a person's approach, even before anyone new could be seen. And Mario, who was startled by her voice, began to nervously eye-scan the area.

Then, true to the lioness' senses, there was a person approaching, most noticeably wearing a large, pink dress, and with a worried expression on her face. Mario's immediate reaction were the thoughts on whether this was princess Peach or the same enemy he had encountered and which had tricked him previously.

"Peach?" He asked unsurely. With difficulty, Mario tried to listen to his conscience, which told him for the wiser not to trust this person straight away. The hardship came from not wanting to experience the embarrassment which would follow if this were in fact the real princess, but the lingering fact that she had turned up almost exactly after they had arrived, as if out of waiting, seemed inexcusably suspicious.

Mario kept his distance and observed the princess carefully for any telltale signs. The woman was smiling, trying to invite, and Mario backed off as she slowly approached.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, not removing her transfixing eyes from his, nor did she stop approaching him.

"Show your true identity, now." The plumber replied strenuously, as he stared into her hypnotic blue eyes.

"But Mario..." Her voice was now much quieter, and it was personal, as if only Mario was meant to hear. "You know you want to just believe I'm Peach." And then she was so close that she placed her elegant hands on the sides of his face, cupping his head in her hands, "Isn't it so much easier to just believe?"

"No…" Mario tried to break free of her, "You…are not…Peach…" but her eyes were inescapable, and she had him under her spell.

"Leave him alone!" screamed Sukari, with fear clinging to her throat. "Please, you're a galshion, I know your kind. I know your weaknesses."

In response, the woman very slowly lifted her head and a bemused expression on her face returned dry laughter. Then her hands parted from Mario's head, and the man fell limply at her feet. Sukari gasped.

"I have no business with you, lion. I actually thought you were on _my_ side," said the galshion. "But, if you insist on fighting me, then you shall die as well."

Sukari paused for a second until a new thought brought a grin to her face. "You can't kill me." She said. And effortlessly, the galshion transformed into her true form. A woman, only a touch taller than Peach was, and blonde, with shifty little eyes and casually dressed. She shifted her weight around on her legs, becoming reacquainted with her worn-out pair of jeans, and a wrinkled, white buttoned-up blouse.

"And why is that?" The galshion replied, unconvinced.

"Because Bowser still thinks I work for him. And he has no tolerance for traitors." At this the galshion stepped back.

"Hmm. Then I better leave." And with that, she tried to whip up some magic, apparently very desperate to disappear.

"Wait!" Yelled Sukari. The galshion froze. "Leave now and I shall give Bowser a good reason to punish you." The two stared at each other as the galshion processed her thoughts.

"What do you want?" She snapped in frustration.

"Open a portal that leads to Klaw Island."

At this, the galshion knotted her eyebrows, "Don't you know you can't get back? At least not until King Bowser collects more portalstones from the mountains."

"If I don't have any other choice…then that's what I'll do. I'll stay under cover until I can escape." The lioness' words sounded so soft that the galshion almost felt them impact her for sympathy.

"If it's the other Mario you want…" she sighed. "I can get him for you. I can easily teleport straight back…but under the circumstances that Bowser doesn't find out the truth."

"Luigi should still be in the cave," Sukari hastened, "You need to get to him before Bowser does…. wait, how do I know I can trust you?"

The galshion stood silently and motionlessly there, but inside she was diving down into a swimming pool of thoughts, deeper than she had dived in a long time.

"I was once like you…" She said, her voice was reduced to like that of a mouse, "…always wanting to help the weak. But when I started working for Bowser, my whole life got changed." Her eyes had been staring into nothingness, and now she looked into Sukari's. "You don't even know how lucky you are to be his favourite, when all the time we 'less important' workers get treated like slaves. If I had your life, I would be doing the same…the least I can do to take rise in the opportunity, is help. I can't prove that I am not lying. But you can believe me, because you still have hope. As for me, I lost my whole belief system years ago…"

Sukari was listening and watching her wide-eyed, she almost didn't want to ruin the galshion's recollection, but she knew the next thing she was about to say, would.

"Will Mario be ok?" She asked hastily.

Instead of forming a portal, the galshion formed a green glowing field around herself, to initiate her own form of transportation.

"Yes, he's stunned. I was just draining his power. He should be awake shortly. Just give him time to recover," were the quick sentences of reply that the woman could make, between being surrounded by the quickly moving field, until she disappeared.

Sukari was already at Mario's side.

"Mario…?" And as Mario's eyes slowly flickered open, his eyes instantly widened and he tried to scramble to his feet.

"Where's the…what happened?" and the rush of the sudden movement gave him a strong head-rush.

"Hey, take it easy, you just lost loads of energy." Sukari affectionately tried to calm him down. "You'll get a head-rush."

"I already have one." Mario complained, holding his forehead. Then he snapped out of it. "Where'd she go? We needed her for a portal, Sukari, did you let her go?" His voice grew more assertive and Sukari backed off.

"Don't take this out on me, I just saved your brother." She said defensively.

"What?"

"The galshion, that's what that was. The galshion is going to bring him to us."

Mario stared coldly at Sukari, and it froze her with fear. He needn't have said anything to let Sukari know how he felt, but he did.

"You…did…_what_?"

"Mario, it was the only choice I had. Trust me."

"Not only did you let that creature get away from us-" He cut his sentence short and sighed, giving himself a few seconds to think. And he opened his mouth to say something, but could not find the words, then he turned his attention elsewhere.

"I can't even think straight anymore, Sukari. That's our place right there." He said indicating his house. "Let's stop in for a rest."

* * *

Luigi was by now half breathing, half coughing. The dust from the walls' collapsing had settled several minutes ago, but to Luigi it felt like it was still surrounding him, and choking him. And suddenly he heard footsteps, on a surface of crumbling rocks. He wasn't sure whether to scream for help, or whether he was best off staying quiet. Then his lungs made the decision for him, forcing him to wheeze even harder, making him realise that the air in the narrow space was slowly running out.

The footsteps crunched closer and closer, and then everything above him moved and partly crumbled in on him.

He thought he heard someone mentioning his name, and then he was blinded by sudden light. He was free, he could breathe, and he did so with great relief.

"Luigi?" A slender arm reached down at him and a hand touched his neck and examined his pulse. "Can you hear me?"

Still letting his eyes become readjusted to the light, Luigi saw that he was looking into the eyes of a young woman. All he could do at the time was cough and nod.

"Good. Just relax. My name is Clare." She said firmly. "Now is anything broken?" The woman spoke very clearly as if she were a doctor or a nurse, trying to calm her patient.

When Luigi tried to talk next, his breathing was so quick that he thought he would never get his words out.

"My leg…I can't move my leg."

"Ok…" Clare briefly examined the trapped leg. "Just try and breathe regularly, and I'll have you out of here in no time." Then he felt her take his hand and a green glowing field formed around them.

* * *

"Are you going to eat that, Mario?" Asked Sukari.

"I'm not hungry."

The plumber was only half aware of the lioness. He was staring out of the kitchen window, with his eyes transfixed on the spot where the portal had last been seen. And in his right hand he held a half-eaten sandwich, which he tossed over to Sukari, who in response sighed and sniffed at the unfamiliar snack in front of her.

"You haven't eaten anything decent in days, Mario…" And she gave up trying to convince Mario to eat, soon after he ignored her.

"We must have waited for an hour…what's taking them so long?" He said, mostly to himself.

No one was really aware of the time, but in fact only ten minutes had passed since Mario and Sukari had entered the house. For Mario, time was stretching itself horribly, and he hated it.


	12. Better in time

A/N: This one is short just because I was so desperate to send something. *Gives everyone 1-up mushrooms to revive them* Enjoy^^

CHAPTER 12: BETTER IN TIME

At some point, sometime, Luigi felt his numb conscience tingle into awareness, and he was comfortable how he was, as a tranquil and innocent soul, softly floating. But reality beckoned ever closer now, and he began to sink into his senses.

The first sense to awaken was his hearing.

Fading in, was high-pitched tone, perfectly rhythmic bleeps.

His eyes stung when they opened, but then the blurred world around him refined itself.

His eyes begged for more rest, and closed him out again. His muscles tensed with awakening, and his skin tingled at the fingertips and toes, but a surprising comfort overwhelmed him, when the back of his head sank into something soft and his back relaxed again onto a body of doughy cream.

A thought entered Luigi's mind; since all he knew of was his physical comfort, he almost didn't wish to be disturbed. Little did he know that his stirring had caused a commotion.

Just by a gentle touch to his shoulder, did someone tell him he was in safe hands, and murmuring voices, which he couldn't distinguish nor recognise broke in on him like shrapnel.

And then a voice, _that_ voice. He knew instantly and exactly who it was. And suddenly the warm world clarified itself to him in a welcoming embrace, and it was not "the" world anymore, it was "his" world, and his heart was finally back in its place.

"I was so worried." Said Mario, who was longing to comfort his brother. "You've been so brave, Luigi. I'm very proud of you."

Luigi groggily smiled; the worst was finally over. He was on a hospital bed, and his right leg and left arm were bandaged up. His head also felt like it had been tightly bandaged up.

A minute later, Mario expressed a more serious tone. "I thought I'd lost you." He exhaled. "Do you realise you have been in a coma?" Then he judged by Luigi's expression that he had not realised.

"How long?"

"Almost two months." His voice was almost to a whisper. And then he smiled. "But it's over now."

The two brothers shared the moment of happiness, and knew that everything they had been through had just changed their lives forever.

Mario and Luigi had survived Klaw Island through each other's support and love. Now their aspect on life was never to be the same again.


	13. Message in the basement

A/N: :DDD UPDAAAATE!!!!!

…

Thank you kindly for your reviews!!

To ELIZABETH: I am overjoyed to hear that! I would like to see those drawings please if you don't mind? :D

Gah. I really don't like Clare anymore X( but that doesn't mean I'm going to kill her off or anything… _ … _ …

…

Here is the unexpected instalment! Enjoy!!!

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CHAPTER 13: message in the basement

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"Your injuries were very severe…" the doctor informed Luigi, "You're lucky to be alive, you know?" she was examining a chart, which was glowing near Luigi's feet. "Well, your power meter seems to be fine…"

It was around mid-day now, and the toad medic, who had been annoying her patient all morning, was a called Dr Lill.

Luigi looked around him, other than Mario sitting next to him; everything in this circular room was unfamiliar. Through the glass above the ridiculously high wall, which followed the entire circumference of the room, he could see blue sky teeming with daylight.

"Which hospital is this?" Luigi asked.

"You're in the Mushroom Kingdom…" replied the doctor as though bored, "This is the mobile Powerstar Hospital… actually power stars act as this hospital's power source, which in turn heal the patients here."

"Hm..." Luigi sighed. He shifted with discomfort in his bandages, trying to recollect the panic, which must have taken place two months ago. "When will I be well enough to go home?" he asked finally.

Dr Lill pushed her reading glasses up on her nose as she jotted a few things onto her clipboard, and then placed it under her arm.

"Well, I'm afraid it's not recommended that you leave the hospital just yet." the doctor advised.

"But…" Luigi looked at her as though she was crazy, "you just said I was fine!"

"Even though the chart says you're fine, your health can fluctuate if you're not careful."

Upset by having been told exactly what he expected, Luigi pouted.

"Sorry, it's hospital policy." The doctor simply added. Luigi frowned at the medic as she quickly jotted more down, and stepped out of the room without removing her eyes from her clipboard.

"I'll stay here till you get better" smiled a very sleep-deprived Mario, who had obviously overheard the conversation.

Luigi turned to his left and returned the smile weakly, he noticed now what state his brother was in.

"Mario…" the younger worried, "You look…"

"Terrible? I know…" Mario replied, letting out a laugh. "I've been feeling that way for two whole months!"

The younger plumber scratched his head, trying to register what had happened to him. "Two months…" he thought out loud, and couldn't believe he had been unconscious for almost that long.

"Well, it was seven weeks…" Replied his brother. "And promise me you wont ever do that again!" he nudged him spiritedly.

"Ow!" Luigi said, rubbing his shoulder and pretending to be hurt. "I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, "Nurse! Nurse! He's bullying me!"

"Shuttup!" Mario shouted, putting a hand over his brother's mouth. Luigi ripped his brother's hand off his face, and they both burst out laughing. However, Dr Lill shot them a displeased look from the door, making them stop.

"I'm sorry, I meant to say doctor…" Luigi said awkwardly. "But I was just…"

"…Try to tone it down, you two." the short toad said eying them with warning, and returned to whatever she was doing.

Mario thought of what to say, careful not to raise his voice too much this time. "It's Clare you have to thank for saving you, you know?"

"…Clare?" Luigi tried to think back on the encounter he had with the blonde girl.

"Hi there." said a voice, giving the plumber a quick fright. Mario must have already seen her arrive. The galshion had been sitting on a chair at the other side of the bed. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Clare apologised pleasantly. "I transported here as soon as I heard."

"Oh, it's ok." Luigi said. "Didn't see you there, that's all." He looked away and back, "Clare, you saved my life…I don't know how to thank you..."

Clare gave him a friendly smile, and before she could open her mouth someone else entered the room.

"Hey Luigi!" greeted Sukari, as she padded up to Luigi's bed, and she put her front paws up onto the bed so she could talk to her friend.

"I can't believe you're finally awake!" She laughed. "I've been staying at your house for the past two months, hope you don't mind."

"If Mario doesn't mind then neither do I." Luigi replied smiling.

"Excuse me everyone, this place is getting a little too crowded." interrupted a loud doctor on entering the room. It was an even shorter toad this time, and with a stern importance about her. "I can allow visits from close friends and relatives only, please."

On glancing at the doctor, Sukari thought she'd answer, "I'll go then. See you later, Luigi." They exchanged friendly smiles, and then the doctor approached Luigi.

"How long have you been talking for, Luigi?" The doctor raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "Hmm? Don't do too much too soon. I suggest you get some rest." She then glanced at Mario and Clare in turn, and then focused on Mario.

"Haven't you been going home to sleep like I asked you?" She sighed. "Besides, with all of you around there are too many distractions, which are going to keep Luigi from getting enough rest." For a moment Mario was drawn back, and glanced to Luigi, who smiled at him.

"It's ok, Mario. You really need to get some sleep."

Wearily, Mario placed his hand on Luigi's shoulder as he got up to leave, "I guess that makes two of us. Goodnight bro. I'll see you tomorrow…Peach wants to come visit you as well."

After everyone had said their goodnights, Mario looked back in the room.

"Are you coming, Clare?"

"I would like a few more words with Luigi, if that's alright." Clare replied. The expression she gave Mario was warm enough to make him trust her. Both he and Luigi were uncertain of what she meant exactly.

Then the doctor, who had been too busy beforehand, suddenly noticed the delay and broke in. "Luigi really needs to be left alone. Do you mind?" She indicated Clare.

"Alright." Clare now seemed to be smiling even though her eyes showed aggravation. "Goodnight." she addressed no one in particular, formed a field of energy around her and disappeared. Mario tiredly rubbed his head and went out the door. Last to leave the room was the doctor, who shut the door behind her.

* * *

"Wake up!"

When Clare next appeared into the late hours of the night, she found herself standing back in the darkening hospital room, and her eyes now looming over the peaceful patient, Luigi, who had fallen asleep and was sweetly moaning in his dreams.

Clare's eyes were narrowed, her stiletto-heeled shoes clacked over to the bedside. There she stood for a moment regarding Luigi impatiently.

"Wake up!" she persisted, this time giving him a nudge.

Groggily, Luigi moaned from being ripped away from his sleep, and tried to see who was there. He felt another nudge, and looked up, where he caught Clare's unfaltering steady gaze.

"You have to come with me, now!" She said urgently. Luigi rubbed his eyes and tried to find the time on him, before remembering that he didn't wear a watch.

"Huh? Why?" he asked, noticing how dry his throat was.

"No time to explain!" she snapped back.

"But…but…" Luigi began, however both the command, and the fact that he felt he owed her, convinced the plumber to get out of bed. He slowly sat up, testing the strength in his muscles. He was surprised at how well he was doing, and felt little if no pain at all. It seemed the power stars, which Dr Lill had mentioned, had worked wonders on him. However, he still feared he might be too weak to walk.

"I was hoping…" He mumbled under his breath, but Clare interrupted him.

"Get on your feet." she said mercilessly. "You'll be fine. I'll meet you in the basement, it's on the ground floor." and then she asserted herself once more as she made her way out the door. "Try and leave unnoticed." And with that, she disappeared.

"Wait! The-the…g-g-g-ground floor?" Luigi stammered. He swallowed and took a deep breath, and was careful not to put his full weight onto his feet, taking it one foot at a time. And holding onto the furniture and wall, he staggered around until he found a pair of his overalls and green shirt in a small cupboard adjacent to his bed, and changed into them. He also found his cap, which had been lovingly placed on the bedside cabinet, and put it on.

Luigi got dressed as quickly as he could and crept out into the corridors. Naturally he was scared, as the hospital was apparently small and very quiet at night. He tiptoed out, keeping an eye out for security or hospital staff, but the place seemed deserted. _Which way is the basement? _Luigi he scanned the walls for any signs of a lift or stairs. He continued to walk cautiously but blindly onwards, and kept reminding himself that Clare was waiting for him. A rush of adrenaline surged through his body and he felt his heart hammering in his chest. Corridor after corridor of dimly lit hallways and rooms, it seemed endless. Luigi swallowed, beginning to wish he were still snug in bed. As a last resort, Luigi randomly selected a door and just has he was reaching for the handle, something grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Said the angry person behind him. She was also quick to muffle his scream. Luigi turned and when he saw Clare, he sighed with relief.

"You can't go that way, you'll be seen!" she hissed. And her hands tuned Luigi by the shoulders, "The ground floor is this way." Then she swiftly led the way, and Luigi reluctantly followed.

The duo passed what seemed like hundreds of corridors and identical rooms, until Luigi found himself standing atop a flight of darkening stairs. His eyes widened at the emptiness before him, but he forced himself down after Clare, sticking very close by her, by following the sound of her heels clacking on the hard concrete steps. As he descended, Luigi felt a wall of cool air hit him; he sensed it was getting cooler and cooler farther down. He wanted to close his eyes the entire time, but he fought his own instinct to do so, as he was already hindered of sight in the dark stairway, and he tripped over his own foot.

"Luigi! Can't you control yourself?" snapped Clare, and she stopped moving whilst still on the stairs, angered at the plumber's behaviour. "Here!" she compromised by forming a strange glowing force, providing enough light for Luigi to finally see his feet. "Is this better?"

"Y-yes…" Said Luigi, his lip quivering in fear. "Thank you!"

"Good." The galshion said, "Because it's drawing from the last of my energy." as she proceeded to walk. "We're almost there."

Moments later, Luigi found himself in the dark, dank basement of the hospital.

_Okay…this isn't so bad…_the frightened plumber thought, _at least, there's no sign of any morgue…_

Surrounding him in the darkness were the vague suggestions of crates and boxes. Thick cobwebs occupied every impossible corner, which clung to his clothes when he entered the open doorway. He quickly dusted them off him and hoped for Clare to have a good reason and fast.

Luigi checked for some sort of light switch next to him, "There are there are no windows or lights in this place!" He exclaimed.

"I know! That's why I chose it…" Clare gritted her teeth, and sat down on something discernable in the dark. Luigi sat on a crate opposite her.

"I'm sorry to rush you like this, but I have a feeling I don't have much time..." Clare took a deep breath. Luigi stared at her blankly but with interest. "As you might have already noticed," she continued, "I'm running out of energy. I'm barely strong enough to stop this light from fading…" she indicated the dimmed light in her hand. "I can't teleport anymore…I'm returning to my true form."

"I thought you…" Luigi trailed off, realising that Clare had something important to say.

"I want to help you. And Sukari, well, she can't go home."

"Why not?" Luigi blinked.

"Because she needs a key." Clare whispered to him. "The key that opens the door to her universe. And it…" she paused to steady herself "… well, it belongs to Sukari, so just ask her about it..."

"Are you alright?" Luigi leaned forward, noticing Clare's hesitation.

"Yes Luigi, but I don't have much time." She hurried, "listen, you need to make a note of this location..."

Luigi prepared himself.

"Klaw Island…" she whispered.

"What?!-" Luigi was about to protest, before Clare interrupted him,

"On Klaw Island's North-eastern settlement, I've entrusted the key to a man named Wez." Clare began to stand up. "I…I have to leave now, I'm returning to my…my…" the galshion was disrupted by heavy breathing as though she was about to faint.

"Clare?" Luigi gasped concerned. He was ready to catch her, but she managed to swagger back on her feet. "Wez!" Clare repeated. "Find Wez…North…East…"

"Klaw Island! Wez!" Luigi helped, "I got it! Are you alright?" the galshion managed a nod and a faint smile, before somehow falling through Luigi's arms and he helplessly watched her diminish into thin air.

Now the plumber's eyes widened when it suddenly hit home, that he was alone…in a dark basement…in a hospital…

Losing control Luigi burst into a sprint heading back up the stairs and as best he could away from there. He found himself frozen in the middle of some corridor staring breathlessly at the walls, when a handful of medics approached him with caution, not knowing what to think…


	14. The Proween key

A/N: I changed the title for this story, K?

Aeolian, check out my profile XD

Anyways, this chapter is pretty boring, it's just a filler really, but the upcoming chapters will be more exciting. :P

…

CHAPTER 14: The Proween key

…

To resolve their confusions, Mario, Luigi and Sukari were sitting around the Toadtown fountain having their discussion. It was Luigi's favourite place in town, the flow of the water always helped clear his mind.

Sukari had begun by describing the story behind her key, sitting on the ground as apposed to the bench, which the brothers sat on.

"It's called a pridestone." She said. "There are like hundreds of them, everyone in our pride owns one each. See we live in a pride like, maybe lions… And each pride has its own colour. Ours is orange. Therefore the pridestones that belong to us are orange, or amber if you like. I hope this is helpful to you!"

"It is helpful!" Luigi said enlightened.

"Luigi, you don't have to go right away, you know?" Mario interrupted the subject.

"Please." The younger replied. "Just let me think about this."

"Guys!" Sukari caught their attention again. "There's something else I didn't tell you about the Pridestone…" she continued, "you've seen it before… it's _THE_ Stone! You know, the one that healed you!" she indicated Luigi. "I lied to you before at Klaw Island. I lied to Bowser about it too. I don't know why we were communicating through it or how it healed, that had nothing to do with me… Klaw Island was causing lots of strange things to happen." You have to understand I was Bowser's slave…"

"I understand." Luigi acknowledged. "It's basically some sort of a passport, right?" Luigi scratched the back of his head, turning back to Mario, "only, more like a key…somehow…"

Mario still didn't like the idea, "Now…rather than for the sake of helping out Sukari…I think in reality, this is your way of repaying Clare for saving your life… Am I right?"

"Well…" Luigi didn't have an answer straight away. "…Then tell me this: Why did Clare come to me when she had all that time to tell Sukari? And why did she want to stay to talk to me after everyone had left the hospital? I'm telling you Mario, it's like she chose me to go! I really feel like I'm supposed to!"

"But that's what I've been trying to tell you! It could be a trap or something! I mean, doesn't it scare you in the least to go back there?"

Luigi silently nodded. "But it will be safer this time, since I'll be travelling by ship." He looked at Mario, smiling, as if to ask for his approval, but to no avail. He sighed. "What about you, Sukari? You're coming with me, right?"

Surprisingly, Sukari seemed even less pleased than Mario. "Well, it would be better if I did… I mean, after all, you are going because of me, sort of…it's just…"

"Well, it would be a great help to me if you did!" Luigi continued, "Since I don't even know exactly what your key looks like…"

"I would love to come with you Luigi…but…it's just…oh, do we have to go across the…s-s-sea? I hate water…"

"Even more than being on that island?" Luigi exchanged a surprised glance with his brother.

"Yes, definitely!" Sukari exclaimed, and then exhaled, blowing away the frightening watery images off her mind.

"Then I guess I'm off on my own…" Luigi said, resting his cheek in his right hand.

"No no no! That's out of the question!" the short plumber exclaimed shortly after. He began to pace up and down, running his fingers through his hair.

Luigi stood up tensely. "Mario, please stop treating me like a baby! Its just a quick voyage there and back, what could go wrong?"

"No way." He said as if it were a statement, and inspected the hair that had come off in his hands. See what you're doing to me!" he said, shoving the strand of hair into his brother's face.

"Mario! Would you stop with that, you're not going bald, you're only twenty-seven! …But that's off the subject! …I'm going back, I've got to!"

"Luigi, you _JUST_ got out of hospital! Can't we stop this nonsense and relax for a moment first!"

Breaking up the chaos, someone called their names, and was approaching them, a very dainty lady in a large pink dress.

"Oh Luigi!" She ran to embrace her friend. It was of course Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. "You shouldn't have run off from the hospital like that!"

"I know I told him that too." Mario said, pleased that their friend had found them. "So you got the message we were here."

"But it's okay, I'm fine!" Luigi added sarcastically.

"Well that's the important thing." The princess smiled. "So…what are you all talking about?"

"Oh nothing, princess, Mario was just having a little mid-life crisis…"

"SHHhh" Mario interrupted his brother, and turned to grin widely at Peach, who was blinking with confusion. But he quickly snapped out of it.

"Where are my manners?" he offered a space on the bench for Peach to sit between him and Luigi.

* * *

"But why did Clare take your key?" Peach asked, after she had heard the brief explanation from Sukari.

"Well she was a slave for Bowser at the time. She thought she was a worker, but was tricked into slavery, just like me." Sukari informed. "So I'm guessing that Bowser wanted to make sure I couldn't run away, so he ordered Clare to take my key off me and hide it in a safe place. Safe from me that is!"

"Okay," Luigi shifted on the stone bench, which for the first time felt uncomfortable, trying to recollect what Clare had told him. "Clare said she gave the key to a guy called Wez. …Do you know who that is, Sukari?"

Everyone looked at the lioness with hope, but she shook her head. "How should I know who Clare's friends are?" She retorted. "Besides, I never left Bowser's region or he would've killed me!"

"You made a wise choice then." Mario said. However he was still in deep thought about Luigi's journey. "You don't have to go straight away, do you?" he repeated.

"I don't know." Luigi said quietly, "Sukari, do you need the key straight away?"

"You're still welcome to stay with us for as long as need be." Mario said in a friendly tone to the lion, filled with the newfound hope that his brother could be staying.

"Sure." Sukari answered. "As long as it's okay with you. I just don't want to be a bother to you, that's all."

"It's fine, really!" and quickly he turned to Luigi, wide-eyed, "So you're staying?" Peach also squeezed her fists eagerly as she awaited a response.

"I guess I can." Luigi smiled, unable to let his friends down. He also felt guilty for at first wanting to run away rather than spend time together. "And Sukari can tell me more about the key!" Everyone shot him a warning. "I mean…erm…forget about that for now." And he smiled, joining his friends as they discussed their plans for the evening.

* * *

It was not long before the four of them had decided they were going out for a meal, and had gone home to get ready.

Luigi was in the room, which he shared with Mario. He had been combing his hair in front of the full-length mirror on the wardrobe, when he sighed suddenly, for some reason unknown to him; he was unable to concentrate on anything other than Klaw Island. Or rather… the pridestone itself… He could hear Mario humming a light-hearted tune in the on-suite bathroom.

Suddenly, Luigi heard someone at the door. He thought perhaps it was Peach, checking why they were taking so long. They weren't late were they? He checked his watch…no, he still had plenty of time.

"Coming!" he shouted down the stairs as he slipped into his shoes. On the way down he noticed Sukari's figure through the glass panel in the door. "Oh, it's you! Door's open!" he called. And he got there anyway and opened it.

On being let in, Sukari was laughing, "Don't have hands!" Luigi face palmed himself.

"Of course! So what is it you wanted to tell me?" Luigi led her into the living room, as though she didn't already know her way around. But the young plumber had forgotten that Sukari had been living here for the past seven weeks.

"Something I didn't want to tell you before…" the lioness muttered, sitting on the ground opposite Luigi. He had chosen his favourite armchair. "In case you're still thinking about the pridestone…I have another favour to ask of you."

"What is it?" Luigi listened politely.

"Can you deliver it to my homeland alone?"

"You mean you don't want to go home?"

"No. I've been thinking about it, and, I just can't face it now."

"But…don't you have family there?"

"Yeah, my parents are living there. But I can't go showing my face again, I'm too scared."

"But I don't understand. You don't want to see your parents?"

"No that's not what I meant. I love my parents and I'm dying to see them… I just can't go back…" she sniffed and blinked away her tears. "…Well it doesn't take a genius to guess why…"

"No really, what do you mean?" Luigi sat on his bed, to listen closer.

"You seriously don't know? Oh!" Sukari felt more enlightened now at her own forgetfulness, and she burst out laughing. "I never realised you don't even know! You haven't even seen one of us before, you don't even know what we look like!"

Luigi stared with a dazed and shocked expression. "No…"

"Well, I come from a race of evolved felines. We Proween don't walk on all fours, we walk upright, and we don't have such round ears, and shorter noses. But I'm different from the rest. Even my speech is altered."

"Did someone do this to you?"

"I don't know. I was always this way. But after all this time I have a suspicion it has something to do with the evil which was once in our world."

"What evil?"

In the background there was a knock on the door, followed by Mario shouting "I'll get it!" and his footsteps tramping down the stairs.

"Please continue, it's probably just Peach at the door." Luigi said.

"There was a group of Proween who were disrupting this peace, they were banished for troubling people some time ago. They had stolen several pridestones, and were using their magic for evil, I don't know much about it, but perhaps they did something to me. My parents always said they didn't know."

"So this is why you left and joined Bowser?"

"That's right. But since I'm free I don't actually have anywhere to go now. And I still feel like avoiding home…"

"Hold it." Luigi said. "Did these evil…Proween… ever make it to Klaw Island? If they did it could explain some of the strange things that have been happening there."

"You're right!" Sukari said, "and if they are on Klaw Island, this could be a big problem!"

Luigi's eyes widened. "The Pridestone! If they get hold of it…"

"They could cause more suffering!" both Luigi and Sukari turned to the doorway. It was Mario who had finished the sentence. He had been standing in the living room doorway, obviously in earshot of the conversation. Behind him was Peach, also listening.

"Alright." The short plumber said with high-spirit. "It's more serious than I thought. I heard what happened to Sukari. We can't let anything like that happen to any other Proween."

Peach added, "Also, maybe it's not such a bad idea to visit this Wez, he probably doesn't know that Clare… did she die?"

"I…don't know" Luigi trailed off into thought, and began again "She said she was returning to her true form, I don't exactly know what that means…and she just disappeared…"

"So, brother are you joining me now?" Luigi asked Mario, standing and walking towards him.

"I'm always with you, bro, you know that." Mario smiled.

"Then if both of you are leaving, I'm coming with you!" Peach said suddenly.

Mario exclaimed, taking Peach's hands, "Oh no, Peach, I can't risk losing you!"

"But I've missed you so much" she said. "You've been so upset all this time Luigi was in a coma… I hardly got to talk to you."

"Alright." Mario said. "But you're staying on the ship. At all times!"

Peach snorted, "At all times?!" The princess folded her arms, pulling a face. "Remember I rescued _you_ once! I have warrior soul in me too!"

Mario sighed. She was speaking the truth. "Well, your people won't like this, but you can stay with us, as long as we're in a safe place I suppose…" Peach's face split into a grin, excited for the adventure, and hugged Mario and then Luigi.


End file.
